#the third option + mali

[samyazaz]

Erzsi had tipped back against the door as soon as it closed behind them, letting Mali press her there with his narrow frame, and she’s lost track of how long they’ve been there like that now, kissing. Maybe a minute. Maybe ten. Maybe more. It’s been a year of waiting, and Erzsi wants, wants everything, right now, and also wants to spend an eternity kissing each of them, and another learning the shape of them beneath her hands, another soaking the heat of their bodies into hers. It’s been a year, but when Mali ducks to press a kiss beneath her jaw while they’re still half-dressed and says against her skin, “I’d like to watch you get yourself off first, so I can see what you like,” she freezes. * It's been a year of waiting, and Erzsi's used to wanting, but not so used to being wanted.

D&D fic, Erzsi/Mali (with implied OT4), 4k, rated E.

This is some unrepentant smut based off of my current d&d game and doesn't really require any context at all, though I've included a little bit in the author's note on AO3 for clarity. Also very happy to answer questions about them/the game, I love these guys an absurd amount.

[tv-box-stop-reviews]

The vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box Review – A Streaming Beast

Right off the bat, let me say this: the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box is the best streaming device I’ve tested for live TV and VOD. So, what’s up everyone? I’m Nick from TV Box Stop. And yes, I’m back again. Because today, I’m reviewing a top-tier Android TV box. Truly, it’s not just any TV box. Indeed, this one stands out. Absolutely, I’m talking about the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box.

Why the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box? Firstly, there are many Android TV box categories. Secondly, we have budget models. Thirdly, there are gaming-focused boxes. Fourthly, you get the live TV and video-on-demand models. However, only one brand consistently delivers premium performance. Yes, that brand is vSeeBox. Because when it comes to smooth, buffer-free streaming, nothing compares. Also, the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box includes elite-level features. Additionally, it avoids the usual disappearing app issues found in other elite models. So, this is the crème de la crème. Truly, it doesn’t get any better.

Unboxing the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box Now, let’s talk about what’s inside the box. Naturally, it includes the new Elite Ultra device. Also, there’s a Bluetooth voice remote. Then, you get a standard HDMI cable. Moreover, you’ll find a 5V 2A DC power adapter. Finally, there’s a tiny user manual included.

Design and Build Quality Honestly, I love the design. Because the box uses a sleek aluminum shell. Clearly, it feels premium. Plus, the name vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box is printed stylishly on top. At the back, it offers solid connectivity.

Specifically, there’s: - One HDMI 2.1 port - One gigabit LAN port - One optical audio port - One AV port - One DC input

On the side, it gives you: - One USB 3.0 port - One USB 2.0 port - One microSD card slot Also, at the front, it features an LED display and a power button.

And underneath, there are four rubber feet and air vents.

vSeeBox Elite Ultra First Boot Experience Upon startup, I saw the vSeeBox animation. Then, I paired the Bluetooth remote. Afterward, a setup wizard appeared. Next, I read the vSeeBox disclaimer. Basically, the box arrives empty. Thus, any apps you install are your responsibility. Furthermore, that depends on your region’s laws. Finally, the launcher loaded.

The Grape Launcher Interface Surprisingly, the launcher is called Grape. Indeed, it offers horizontal scrolling panels. So, you can easily view installed apps. Also, it shows recommended apps and system tools at the bottom. Importantly, it runs on Android TV OS. Therefore, it lacks a navigation bar or status bar. So, air mouse navigation doesn’t work well. Connecting to the Internet As soon as I connected to Wi-Fi, new streaming options appeared. Obviously, it included the popular Heat Live and Heat VOD apps. Additionally, many third-party APKs became accessible. But again, remember the disclaimer. Because these apps are not preinstalled. So, installation choices fall on you. Moreover, YouTube restricts me from showing how to install these apps. However, I did post a guide on my Odysee channel. So, you can check that out.

vSeeBox Elite Ultra Firmware Update and System Info Interestingly, I got a firmware update right away. So, I installed it. Afterward, I checked the build info. And yes, it’s based on Android 12 TV OS. Though, you don’t get developer options. Still, that’s not a dealbreaker. Because most users won’t need them.

Display and Features Breakdown Here’s what you get for display: - 4K 2160p at 60 Hz - HDR10 support - Auto HDR switching - Auto frame rate matching - HDMI CEC controls - Google Assistant support - Surround sound pass-through However, there’s no Dolby or DTS decoders built-in.

System and Hardware Specs Next, I checked the internal specs. So, here’s what powers the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box:

- Allwinner H313/H616 processor - Quad-core Cortex-A53 at 1.5GHz - 4GB DDR4 RAM - 128GB storage - Bluetooth 5.0 - Mali-G31 GPU - Android 12 OS - Vulkan 1.1 support

It even supports Wi-Fi 6. That means dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz speeds. Still, there’s no AV1 or Dolby Vision decoder. Also, the firmware isn’t rooted. vSeeBox Elite Ultra Digital Rights Management (DRM) For DRM, the box includes: - Google Widevine L1 - HDCP 2.2 But, no ESN license for Netflix. So, you can’t stream Netflix in HD. Still, other apps work perfectly.

Screen Casting and Mirroring For screen casting, it comes with Miracast. So, Android devices mirror flawlessly in 1080p HD. But sadly, there’s no AirPlay support. So, iPhone users are out of luck.

YouTube and HDR Testing For YouTube, the Android TV app works well. Also, the Smart YouTube TV app is included. However, both struggle with anything over 1440p. Also, HDR videos won’t play properly. So, I tested HDR10 and HLG playback. Here’s what I found: - HDR10 works - HLG does not work - Dolby Vision videos trigger HDR10 - Dolby Atmos audio does not work - AV1 doesn’t trigger anything So clearly, this box supports HDR10 only.

Sound Performance and AV Receivers I tried connecting to a surround sound receiver. But unfortunately, no audio came through. So, surround audio isn’t supported via AV receivers.

Android Gaming Limitations If you’re into Android gaming, take note. Because this box blocks app stores like APKPure and Aptoide. Also, developer options are disabled. So, you can only sideload APKs manually. That means no seamless app store browsing. Thus, I don’t recommend this box for gamers.

vSeeBox Elite Ultra Benchmark Results Let’s now look at its performance scores. First, here are the read/write speeds: - RAM copy speed: 2928 MB/s - Storage read speed: 158 MB/s - Storage write speed: 149 MB/s Next, the internet speed test showed: - 5GHz and LAN: 300 Mbps max - 2.4GHz Wi-Fi: around 56 Mbps CPU benchmarks: - Geekbench 5: 108 single-core, 372 multi-core - 3DMark Wild Life: 172 score, 0.80 fps - Antutu (v8.4.5): 74,574 score I added these results to my rankings chart. And yes, the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box now sits at position 105. It earned a 3 out of 5 star hardware rating. That’s average for performance. But again, streaming is where it shines.

Final Thoughts on the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box So let’s wrap this up. Simply put, the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box is the best for streaming. Hands down. Live TV? Outstanding. Video-on-demand? Flawless. No buffering. No sudden app removals. Unlike other brands, this one sticks around. Even though it doesn’t come preloaded, what you install stays available. Yet, remember their disclaimer. Because legally, what you do on the box is up to you. Still, the device arrives clean and empty. So you decide what goes on it.

Should You Buy the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box? If you stream a lot, then absolutely. Because the performance is unmatched. So yes, I highly recommend it. And right now, there’s a 10% discount. You can grab yours through my affiliate link. So act fast before stock runs out or the coupon expires.

Final Words and What’s Next Thanks again for joining me. Don’t forget to like this post. Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel. Because I’ve got more reviews, unboxings, and giveaways coming. Moreover, if you want early access to deals, email me at tvboxstop@gmail.com. That way, I’ll send open-box offers directly to you. So until next time, stay connected. And keep enjoying your streams with the vSeeBox Elite Ultra TV Box. Read the full article

[qnewsau]

Trump Administration risking the world's HIV response

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/trump-administration-risking-the-worlds-hiv-response/

Trump Administration risking the world's HIV response

US media reports say that the Trump Administration is considering massive permanent cuts to what the US spends to combat the HIV epidemic both overseas and at home.

There are fears that the global effort to combat the spread of the HIV virus could be undone as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to restructure the US Government to eliminate what it terms wasteful spending.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered a “government-wide comprehensive review of all foreign assistance” in January, which suspended funding for the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

PEPFAR finances 70 percent of the world’s HIV response, and since its creation in 2003 by Republican President George W Bush, is estimated to have saved 26 million lives across 55 countries.

Several of PEPFAR’s major contracts have been suspended by the Trump Administration as part of cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), leaving 20 million people without funding for their treatment.

A global crisis

In March, the World Health Organisation warned that eight countries, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, and Ukraine, could run out of HIV medications within months if their funding is not restored.

UNAIDS estimates there would be a 400 percent increase in HIV related deaths if PEPFAR is not reauthorised between 2025 and 2029.

“That’s 6.3 million people, 6.3 million AIDS related deaths that will occur in the future,” Christine Stegling, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS told a press conference in Geneva in February.

A February 6 memo from the US State Department instructs that PrEP “should be offered only to pregnant and breastfeeding women,” whereas others “who may be at high risk of HIV infection or were previously initiated on a PrEP option can not be offered PEPFAR-funded PrEP.”

That leaves men who have sex with men, drug users, trans people and sex workers out in the cold.

Cuts at home as well as abroad

There is now talk that the Trump Administration also plans to cut HIV funding in the US as well, with the Centre for Disease Control’s (CDC) HIV division that is focused on prevention and treatment reportedly in its crosshairs.

The 30-year-old Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) may also be dissolved after the Trump Administration announced plans to remove all of its more than 30 members.

This would be a stark reversal of Donald Trump’s approach to the HIV epidemic in his first term where he launched the “Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative” with a goal of reducing new HIV cases in the US by 90 percent by 2030.

“My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years,” he said in launching the initiative in 2019.

Under one plan revealed by government insiders to the Wall Street Journal, the CDC’s HIV division would simply be eliminated. Under another it would be slashed by $700 million – about two thirds of its budget.

It has been suggested that some of the CDC’s HIV programs could be moved to another department within US Health and Human Services (HHS), such as the The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

However that program currently deals with access to treatments for HIV, not prevention.

Undoing decades of progress

According to US non-profit group AIDS United, there are over a million Americans who are at risk of acquiring HIV, and there are over 30,000 new infections in the US each year. A major slashing of HIV prevention funding in the US could see that number skyrocket.

A HHS spokesperson told POLITICO in late March that “HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure the federal government.”

“No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division has been made.”

For the latest LGBTQIA+, Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

[mytechbug]

Redmi K50i - The Budget Flagship Killer Gaming Phone

The Redmi K-series Gaming Phone has seen immense success in India over the years by offering flagship-grade performance at affordable prices. After a 3-year hiatus, Xiaomi has launched the latest addition to this series - the Redmi K50i - in India. Packing the Dimensity 8100 chip, 144Hz display, and 67W fast charging support, the K50i seems like another blockbuster from Redmi. But how does it compare to the competition? Let's find out in this detailed review. The Redmi K50i is essentially a rebranded Poco X4 GT that was launched in global markets earlier this year. There are minor differences between the two in terms of design and display. The K50i sports a 144Hz LCD panel compared to the 120Hz IPS LCD on the X4 GT. It also comes in a slick Phantom Blue color option with a glittery pattern. Powered by MediaTek's Dimensity 8100 SoC, the K50i promises flagship-like performance at a mid-range price point. The phone starts at Rs. 23,999 for the 6GB/128GB model, going up to Rs. 26,999 for the 8GB/256GB variant. Features of Redmi K50i Display 6.6" FFS LCD, 1080p, 144Hz refresh rate Chipset MediaTek Dimensity 8100 5nm RAM/Storage 6GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB Rear Cameras 64MP main (f/1.9) + 8MP ultrawide + 2MP macro Front Camera 16MP (f/2.5) Battery 5080mAh, 67W fast charging Extras Stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jack, IR blaster, Side fingerprint scanner, Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos Support The Pinnacle of Redmi K50i Performance With the octa-core Dimensity 8100 under the hood, paired with up to 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, the Redmi K50i delivers blazing-fast performance whether you are browsing menus, switching between multiple apps, or playing high fps games. In our testing, we hardly faced any stutters during day-to-day operations. The phone also remained relatively cool throughout an hour of intensive gaming. While synthetic benchmarks don't reflect real-world experience, the K50i scored over 760,000 points in AnTuTu v9 - which is higher than Snapdragon 870 devices. For context, the Dimensity 8100 sits between the Snapdragon 870 and Snapdragon 888 in terms of performance. The Mali-G610 MC6 GPU can also handle most high-graphics games without breaking a sweat. We could easily achieve 90-120+ fps in titles like Real Racing 3 and Sky Force Reloaded. Cutting-edge Display Technology in Redmi K50i Despite having an LCD panel, the vibrant 6.6" screen on the K50i looks stunning. It has slim bezels all around and can achieve a peak brightness of 650 nits. The display supports HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 144Hz refresh rate, and a 360Hz touch sampling rate. This makes visuals appear crisp and smooth, whether you are watching movies/videos or playing games. We especially liked the smart adaptive refresh rate implementation. Depending on the content, the screen switches dynamically between 30Hz to 144Hz refresh rates. So videos encoded at 30fps will play at 30Hz while fast-action games can leverage the full 144Hz mode. This helps optimize battery usage without compromising on visual fluidity. Redmi K50i's Cutting-Edge Camera Technology On the imaging front, the Redmi K50i packs a 64MP f/1.9 primary sensor accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide lens and a basic 2MP macro camera. Results from the main camera are decent, with good colors and details in daylight conditions. The camera app offers a full suite of shooting modes ranging from night mode, portrait mode, slow motion, panorama, pro mode, and more. There is also 4K video recording at 30fps. Advanced Features and User Experience On the software side, the phone runs MIUI 13 based on Android 12 out-of-the-box. There are some pre-installed third-party apps, but most of them can be removed easily. Expect a smooth interface with lots of customization features. Pros and Cons of Redmi K50i Pros  Cons Class-leading performance Still on Android 12 Vibrant 144Hz high refresh rate display Bloatware and ads in some apps Excellent battery life with insanely fast charging No official IP rating Good cameras for the price Low-light cameras could be better Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos Has a 3.5mm jack and an IR blaster Should I Buy Redmi K50i? If you have a budget of around ₹25k and want the absolute best performance for this price, look no further than the Redmi K50i. Between the Dimensity 8100 chip, excellent display with 144Hz mode, long-lasting battery, and some nice additional features like the headphone jack, the Redmi K50i has all bases covered. Unless you want more premium build quality or better low-light cameras, the K50i beats pretty much every other phone in its class. For under ₹30k, this is arguably the most complete package available right now. We recommend the higher 8GB/256GB variant for longevity. FAQs What is the price of Redmi K50i in India? The Redmi K50i starts at Rs. 23,999 for the 6GB/128GB variant and goes up to Rs. 26,999 for the 8GB/256GB model. How is the gaming performance of Redmi K50i? With Dimensity 8100 and Mali G610 GPU, the K50i delivers flagship-tier gaming performance. We could smoothly play CoD Mobile, Asphalt 9 Legends, etc, at 90/120 fps. Does it face heating issues when playing games for long durations? No, the cooling system does an excellent job at heat dissipation. After 1-2 hours of intense gaming, the phone reached marginally warm temperatures only. Can I record 4K videos with Redmi K50i? Yes, the rear 64MP camera allows 4K video recording at 30fps frame rate. For selfies, you can shoot up to 1080p clips. Read the full article

[askroahmmythril]

Random Musings : Pokémon "Maridia Points"

So recently, I've finally gotten around to going through Ultra Sun while training a new team. I never actually played through that one, Ultra Moon, yes, but not Ultra Sun. So I hit a point in the game where I felt like I remembered it feeling like a bit of a slow point. This is something I've talked about before, what my friend Kit and I have dubbed "The Marida Effect," an area of a game that just feels like a slog to get through. So it got me to thinking, what part of each generation / region was my Maridia in Pokémon. Curious what others might think, or what points hit that for them. So here we go :

Kanto : Silph Co. Now to be fair, if you just make a beeline for the specific things you need to do to just clear Silph Co. and have done with it? It doesn't take THAT long. If, on the other hand, you're like me and want to fight every Rocket Grunt in there for munchy crunchy chocolatey experience points? Yeaaaaah that can take awhile... 10 or 11 floors I think it is full of trainers? Yup. But oh those experience levels can be worth it.

Johto : I don't really remember much of a Maridia point in Johto. I feel like I have a vague memory of Whirl Islands being a little bit of a thing? But it's an optional area overall, and I don't really remember it being THAT bad. Neither of the Rocket takeover areas feel as big or irritating to deal with as Silph Co. from what I remember.

Hoenn : The sea routes. Yeah yeah, get your IGN score jokes out there. Really, it's just how slow surfing is compared to biking, and there are a lot of sea routes toward the end. There's also the southern sea route near Pacifidlog that, if you want to find everything, you have to battle with the currents and thus will likely need to go down the route multiple times.

Sinnoh : A minor one, but the snow route from Mt. Coronet to Snowpoint. It's just the whole thing about certain areas slowing you way down because of the deep snow, and there's no point to it aside from specifically "hey let's add tedium." Thankfully a short area.

Unova : Clearing out Castelia. It's the first time in the series we get such a huge city, and there are so many spots to visit that it can take awhile to make sure you've been everywhere.

Kalos : Clearing out Lumiose. Previous entry, but even bigger. Dear gods Lumiose is huge. HUGE!!!

Alola : Ula'ula Island. There's a lot about the third island that just feels tedious to me. For one thing, the previous islands, Melemele and Akala, were largely just a loop around the island that you followed. Ula'ula is a lot of "go here, now backtrack. Go here, now backtrack." Next, you have the whole desert maze thing. There's also a lot of "plot barrier" stuff here, like going into Malie Garden and Hau basically saying "Let me block the bridge that you can easily see the Professor from, you go that way and look for the professor!"

Galar : Climbing Rose Tower. Thankfully another short bit, but it gets annoying since it's all double battles with Hop as your ally, fighting Macro Cosmos workers who all use Steel types... and Hop decides sending out a Dubwool that just uses Normal type attacks is the best strategy.

Paldea : Going through all the school classes. Not really much to say about it... School classes be tedious, yo.

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade In the recently released Henley Passport Index for Q2 2023, the Nigerian passport rose from its previous 100th position to 91st among the 199 countries and 227 travel destinations studied. The index showed The Gambia, leading the ECOWAS, ranked 72nd, Sierra Leone at 74th, Cabo Verde at 75th, Ghana at 76th, Benin at 78th, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast at 79th, Guinea at 80th, Senegal and Togo at 81st, Niger at 82nd, Mali and Guinea Bissau at 83rd, Liberia at 87th and Nigeria at 91st. However, there are visa-free countries accessible to all Nigerian passport holders. With just a valid passport, you can gain entry into these countries without having to stress yourself over a visa. Some may, however, be required to apply for a visa at their point of entry. 1. RWANDA Rwandan government has waived entry visas to Nigerians, other Africans and members of the Commonwealth in a bid to promote the ease of doing business and attract investors into the Central/Eastern African Community 2. DJIBOUTI In East Africa, one of the best places to visit from Nigeria is Djibouti Nigerian citizens who are planning a trip to Djibouti aren’t required to apply for a visa if they wish to go for short stays (tourism). But it’s required to obtain an electronic travel authorization (eTA or eVisa) before entering Djibouti. The country has beautiful places to visit such as Lake Assal, which is the lowest point on land in Africa. In the world, it is only the third after the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. 3. CAPE VERDE A visa is not required for Nigerian passport holders visiting Cape Verde for a short-term stay: 90 days. Cape Verde is an island country that is found on the West African coast. It is one of the most welcoming tourist destinations on the continent as it has great weather and beautiful spots that you could have a splendid vacation. 4. BURKINA FASO A visa is NOT required for Nigerian passport holders visiting Burkina Faso for a short-term stay. The country plays host to the International Arts and Crafts Fair, Ouagadougou which is regarded as one of the most important African handicraft fairs. 5. BENIN REPUBLIC As a Nigerian passport holder, you can visit Benin Republic and stay for 3 months without a visa. A country located close to Nigeria, there are a number of tourist attractions in the country that may interest you like the nominated UNESCO World Heritage site named Pendjari National Park. 6. BURUNDI Nigerians are allowed a visit to Burundi for 30 days without a visa requirement. The country is known for its craft works that serve as a great gift option for tourists. From shields, baskets and masks to statues and pottery. An important part of the culture in Burundi is drumming, the Royal Drummers of Burundi have been performing for 40 years. The oral tradition of the country through poetry, storytelling and songs is also something worth enjoying. 7. CAMEROON Nigerian citizens do not need a tourist visa when travelling to Cameroon. Cameroon Visa free is free for Nigerian citizens. With this visit visa stay is usually short with a period of 90 days. Applicant is not required to be present when applying for Cameroon Visa free. Enjoy a great time in Cameroon. Check out the National Museum & Mvog-Betsi Zoo in Yaounde or the La Pagode Maritime Museum in Douala. There are a number of wildlife species ranging from lions and antelopes to snakes and birds, you will find at any of the parks. 8. COTE D’IVOIRE Ivory Coast visa is not required for Nigerian citizens. Nigerian passport holders do not need to apply for a visa. Nice places to visit in Ivory Coast: The beach resorts of Assinie, the Parc National de Tai, valleys of Man and the artsy Grand Bassam are some of the breathtaking tourist attractions you can see in Cote d’ivoire. You may also enjoy the lagoon boat tour or visit the open markets in Treichville or Cocody.

9. COMOROS You can travel to Comoros without a visa but you can get the visa on arrival. Comoros Island is made up of four developed islands with white sandy beaches, giant fruit bats, volcanoes, and rainforests. Enjoy one of the best adventures on Comoros Island and make memories of a lifetime. 10. BARBADOS Nigerian nationals do not require a visa to travel to Barbados for a period of 180 days. However, they need to possess a passport valid for a minimum of six months beyond their intended date of exit from Barbados.   #countries #Nigeria #passport #tourists #Visafree

[cruelsxmmcr]

♡ beach hut prompt 08: dylan michaels

who did you share a bed with last night? how did you sleep?

“I shared with Phoebe, yeah. It was nice having someone asking me to share. We didn’t kiss or anything, if that’s what you’re waiting for. We just cuddled. But I had a good sleep for sure. She didn’t kick me in her sleep,” he jokes with a grin.

are you getting on with any of the bombshells? who’s at the top of your list?

“Yeah, I get along with all of them. I’m an easy going bloke, you know?” Lips curve up into a dimpled grin. “I’m still keeping my options open and exploring, but I’m mostly interested in Adela, Phoebe, and Mali and I want to see if there could be anything real there with any of them, beyond just good talks and attraction. I’m just trying to focus on getting to know them even though it still feels weird being in this position when I haven’t even talked to Naomi yet. There’s so many ifs right now and more unanswered questions than answered that I feel this is the only way to go. I’m trying real hard so separate the two, but yeah. I don’t know what’s coming next or where Naomi and I are even headed.” A pause. “I just want to enjoy my days here.”

do you see yourself starting to focus on one person or are you still exploring?

“I don’t see myself focusing on one person yet, no. Like I said, I’m still exploring and looking to see if I find something real there that’s worth developing further. But I do want to focus on one person, so I hope things get clearer to me today.”

how was the beer pong game? what was most memorable about it?

“You know what I’m going to say, mate... We won.” Cue the smug expression. Dylan loves to win, clearly. “I haven’t played beer pong since college. Though I hope my mates haven’t seen me miss because I’ll have you know I was really good at the game back in college.” He chuckles to himself before he leans back. “But no, it was enjoyable, really. I like game nights, it gets everyone excited.”

who did you vote for the hideaway? why?

“I voted for Marcus. It’s an easy decision looking as he and Val have a good thing going.”

if you could have voted for a bombshell to go in the hideaway, who would you have voted for?

“Easy, Val, too. It’s for the same reasoning I voted for Marcus.”

what do you think is going on in the other villa?

He blows on his cheeks. “Beats me, mate. It’s their third day with these people, so I reckon some connections have been made by now? I do wonder if the vibes over there are the same as in our villa. Who won the beer pong game over there?” He looks over at the producers in an attempt to distract himself. “I’m hoping Callie’s cracking on with someone, too, same for Romi. Seb’s probably flirting with all the bombshells seeing as he’s the one without a connection and Rhys... I don’t know how strong his connection with Bash is, or if he’s opening himself to exploring. He’s definitely cracking bad jokes, I’ll tell ya that.”

what do you think the other villa would think of your actions in casa so far?

“They’d be shocked seeing me with all those bombshells, that’s for sure, some would probably be judging me for it, but it’s not like any of them know I’m a fucking mug, huh?” He rolls his eyes slightly before he lets out a pained sigh. “It is what it is, mate. I don’t know what to think anymore, I’m just taking one day at a time.”

[lordrandreaming]

73 hours, 159 level ups. I beat Elden Ring.

I bit the bullet, after fighting Dragonlord and defeating him, i then went on to first try all the final bosses of this masterpiece.

First of my Endgame tour, was Dragonlord. What a PAIN in the Ass to fight. Took me three tries. Of course, being a FromSoft game, Elden Ring's optional fights are the hardest. Malenia and Placidusax are no exeptions. But, at least, Malenia doesn't fucking teleport around. Sure, she's hard. But.. Placidusax is just terrible. One day, im going to get all the Sorceries/Incantations for the trophy, and when i do.. I'll be one overleved sorcerer. But as for Daedra, FUCK NO! He's not going to go against Placi for a VERY long time, if ever again. Hated this boss. If you do this boss, be a VERY high level. I was 152. Recommending being 160 and higher with ALOT of vigor.

Second.. Maliketh. My fucking FAVORITE fight in this whole game.. First tried. Best music, my all time favorite boss and character. He's what really got me wanting Elden Ring, so to beat him first try was.. Unbelievable to me. I thought he was an optional Endgame boss.. Like Farum Azula was optional to go to. But NOPE get FUCKED emotions. I love him so much.. Plus, I completed Gurranq's quest before doing Mali, so i got the special dialogue i wanted. :) Fav boss 10/10 will always look forward to fighting him.

Third, Gideon. I destined deathed his ass.. First try. He didn't even hit me- I sure showed him! Becoming Elden Lord and all. So sad that he chooses to fight against us as he doesn't believe a Tarnished could even be Elden Lord. Shame, he woulda been a good advisor for us.

Fourth, Godfrey. Annoying second phase, but overall a pretty fun fight. First try. Poor Serosh.. Godfrey is such a good guy though. Commending us for our strength and how a crown befits it.. Aww thanks man. Basically the first boss to be like 'WOW man. Your strong. Go for it.' Chivalry's not dead!

Fifth.. Radagon/Elden Beast. My gods.. Where do i begin? Radagon is an asskicker, that's for sure.. Poor fucking guy. First try. Kicked me and my Mimic Tear's asses like were nothing! I so wish we could do something for him, other than just killing him. I won't get into his lore and so fourth, but he was probably a pretty good guy, not motivated politically like Marika, kinda almost opposite of her. He was everything Marika didn't want to be. And i wish we could help Rennala too.. Fought the good fight, but in the end it just wasn't enough Rada 💔

Elden Beast, what a beautiful boss theme omfg.. Only had 5 flasks when i started with 12 on Radagon. Annoying because it can just go under the water.. But not as awful as Dragonlord. A good Final Boss, since its a 2-for-1 kinda deal. Drained me of all my crimson, but i still bested it.

The ending i got? I got the Duskborn Ending. And.. I got chills. I fucking love this game, and am crying. Just watching death be restored to the Land's Between.. People can finally just die again, things will never be the same though. Just Daedra, sitting on that throne, watching.. It felt profound, yet oddly comforting. I didn't get the same feeling i did after DS3, because after DS3 i felt a little... Hollow. Haha! Get it? Anyway.. I instantly hopped into NG+ as i got addicted to DS3.

With Elden Ring though, it was rather accomplishing. I think i forgot a Talisman for the legendary Talisman trophy, but seeing the Erdtree and Roundtable hold on fire.. It felt so empty. So. Entered Ng+ like a madman, and now I'm going to do it all over again! Yknow.. Except for Dragonlord (ESPECIALLY Dragonlord.), Fortissax, and Malenia. I don't even need to explain.. Lol

But then again, I ran through all DS3 bosses way after i capped NG+7. And i mean.. All of them. Even the DLC bosses. I found it fun to fight Midir in NG+7. Gael not so much, but you know :) Souls player's love doing crazy shit.

My plans are so- I either stay in NG+ as Dae, get/wait to get Age of Stars ending, or i move on and do as i did in DS3 and NG+7 the game before the DLC comes out. Or.. OR I take Tennren, my Sorcerer Build and do the Age of Order ending. THEN do the DLC with him, before diving in with Daedra. But I'll probably have Daedra go through the DLC first, because :)

The EldenSoulsBorne series is just a magnificent series, renound for it's twisting and turning lore, incredible stories to be uncovered and pondered- the punishing difficulty, staggering new player's, causing them to just drop the game, never to return. It happens with all the Souls games, if you don't know what your doing.

But these games, once you learn one, you will find it a breeze to go through all the other ones. I learned DS3 after about.. A whole three months of playing it, i think? It came out April, in 2016.. I bought it then. But took like.. A week break, because it was just so hard.

But the journey.. It was incredible. I'm so utterly blown away by all the stories Souls has to offer. All stories are beautiful, yet similar. So different, but are almost the same.. It's something I've never encountered before. EldenSoulsBorne will always habe place as #1 in my heart, because it just.. Speaks to me.

As I've said, I've completed DS3, Bloodborne, Dark Souls 1, and now Elden Ring. DS2 is on its way to being completed.. I'm a fairly decent level and don't exactly expect too much trouble with the DLC's and endgame. But man..

Elden Ring hits different. All Souls have that unique hit on you, actually.. No Souls game will punch you in the heart and dick the exact same way.. I will always cherish these games, and the impact they made on my life.

If you haven't played one of the aforementioned games, i suggest, that if you are ever so eager, to start with Dark Souls 3. It's among the easier side of Souls games, but its still plenty challenging. These games prove difficult at first, but they are oh so rewarding when you learn them.

Thanks for reading.

[absolutesort]

𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨   ;    ʙᴇᴀᴄʜ ʜᴜᴛ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛ !

how was the challenge ? what was the most memorable moment from it for you ?

      “ the challenge was... ”  frankie hesitates, looking for the right word.  “ fun. ”  she’s nodding enthusiastically, but there’s a sheepish smile on her face. embarrassment’s a rare colour on her.  “ way more eventful than i thought it would be. obviously, there was the shit with miles. i had to mount him and kiss him, and we just met that day so... ”  she grits her teeth, even though she didn’t have to kiss him — at least not like that — could’ve played it safe and kissed him anywhere else, or even picked an inoffensive but feasible option like marcus, but frankie’s never been the kind of girl to choose the easy option.  “ guess that’s one way of taking the awkwardness out of the getting to know you thing. i think he liked it. ”  her finger and thumb pinch together, leaving just a margin of space between them.  “ tiny bit. ”

is there anyone you have chemistry with or see yourself wanting to get to know better ?

    “ honestly ? i have chemistry with most of them. literally so hard being sexy and wanted by everyone. but yeah, i think it’s pretty apparent that there’s chemistry, biology, some crap with miles. i’m not sure what, but... yeah, it’s a problem. ”  she makes friends at lightspeed, but hasn’t really hit it off with someone in that way besides callie, where that initial pull had been pretty instant too.  “ i can be completely myself with him, like i’ve known him my whole life. no topic is off limits like we can just chat shit for hours, dude. it’s a vibe, and if it ends up just a friends thing, i won’t be mad. he’s so sound, i wanna talk to him all the time. ”  she pauses, for a moment, considering if there’s anyone else.  “ maybe i’m reading it wrong, but there’s some kinda weird not quite flirty but kinda flirty energy with adela, especially after that three-way-kiss. she’s brought up eating out almost every time we’ve spoken, and it definitely has an edge to it. i don’t know, i can’t read her. mali and i had a bit of a vibe. she definitely hit on me, and she’s hot, but she seems too put together for me, i like them a bit more rugged. val’s cool too, there was definitely a bit of a click there. she pulled a naomi and licked my neck or some crap, but now her and marcus seem to have a good thing going, and dude needs it more than me. ”

do you see your fellow islanders hitting it off with anyone ?

   “ val and marcus, for sure. they’re cute as heck. like, he deserves to be happy and fucking someone, and i’m glad it’s someone as cool as val. definitely wouldn’t mind being their third. phoebe seems like she’s into dylan, and i feel like he could try that if he opened himself up a bit more. how’s he meant to know if it’s as good as, better than, or not as good as his connection with naomi if he doesn’t at least try. apparently something happened with josh and mali ??  which is fucking insane, but hot. i love those crazy freaks. um... other than that... ?  i don’t know. i’m pretty blind when it comes to noticing who other people are focusing on unless they straight up tell me or it happens in front of me. like, i had no idea max liked jenny until i walked in on them boning. fucking rude awakening that was. ”

did you share a bed with anyone ? how did that go ? do you think you’ll share with them again ?

    these questions feel so pointed, but she guesses that’s the point.  “ yeah, i did. and i’ve decided i’m not gonna feel bad about it. i’m here to have fun, nobody’s in a relationship. ” and she doesn’t really owe anyone anything so fuck it. plus sharing a bed can totally be platonic, even if it hadn’t exactly felt that way.  “ i shared with miles. his body temperature is so fucking hot though, i mean warm, not hot hot, it was like... that bit in eclipse when bella’s in the tent and she’s freezing her tits off because her lame boyfriend is a fucking hundred year old corpse and then sexy jacob snuggles her and he’s just like, this warm cosy thing, like a space heater in human form. felt like i was gonna have to throw the duvet off to stop myself from overheating. i don’t know if we’ll share again. i kind of want to. ”  is that bad ?   “ but i’m also trying to like... be mindful and respectful of the callie situation and not do something cunty even though i kinda want to. ”  and yeah, maybe there’s a bit of playing hard to get in there, too.  sue her.  “ it’s super hard. like the producers know what they’re doing. it’s tough. ”

what do you think is going on at the other villa ?

   “ haven’t really thought about it. ”  it’s only half-true. she thinks about callie constantly, except when she’s with miles or marcus or someone who makes her feel so present that literally all of her thoughts just disappear.  “ i feel like all of them will be into callie. and i don’t know what she’ll do. like, we had that fight about exclusivity or whatever and agreed that we can both get to know other people as well, so i guess it would be pretty fucking snakey of me to want to get to know people but not want her to do that. but it does suck that i have no idea what’s happening. i would be fine with her talking to people if i could see it in action, and knew they had dead chat, but the not knowing is brutal. what are they like ? are they more her type ? does she have a better connection with any of them ? would their lives on the outside be a better fit ? are they hotter than me ?  nah, they’re probably not hotter than me. and they’re definitely not funnier than me. ” she’s gotta count the small victories, otherwise what’s the point ?

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Middle of the Trees

You can’t sleep. Calum learns about a secret talent. 

Reader Insert. No specific race or gender. 

This is was SUPPOSED to be a quick 500 word blurbs. She’s 2.4k words but we already knew I’m captain of long windedness. Please enjoy the pre-game to tomorrow’s festivies. (It’s not related at all. Just cranking out some last minute drafts before my final 5sos fic goes up.)

Enjoy my masterlist.

Support me on ko-fi

No one has my permission to repost this fic, including translations. All rights reserved. Copyright © be-ready-when-i-say-go, 2020. 

________________________________

You shouldn’t have been awake. Not this late at night. You hadn’t meant to be awake at this hour, if you’re honest. It was probably the nap from earlier, when you were out with Calum, bathing in the warm sun. Being out in the sun created a fatigue that truly was unmatched. So after your return in doors and showering, you settled onto the couch. Sleep found you without a fight. Now, now, you are paying the price it seems.

The house is settling into the quiet of the night. Duke is curled up on your side of the bed. Calum half covered by the sheets and bathed in the faintest light from the moon seeping in through the blinds. It isn’t a lot of light. Though, it helps that even in the dark you can make out the outline of Calum’s figure in the bed. There are two options, after staring at the TV in the living room, proved no use for your much too alert mind: you can curl up next to Calum and hope that the warmth of his body is enough to trick your brain or you could mess about with something in the house until the buzzing of your brained quieted. 

On a plus, Calum slept like the dead, so even if you made a little bit of noise with your choice of activity, it probably wouldn’t wake him. Padding into his office/music room, you find the keyboard he set up in the corner. Most of the room is lined with plaques and various guitars: bass, electric, acoustic. Plopping yourself into the computer chair at his desk, you roll it over to the keyboard. It turns on, the small red light letting you know so. You readjust the settings, after playing just a quick note and horns screech out at you. 

“Didn’t know that was up his sleeve,” you tease, clicking it over to the piano setting. When you play the note again, it sounds like twinkling stars and you just sit for a moment. The window’s to your left, the shades are drawn but not shut fully. Almost as if Calum had closed them part way through the day, at some point because it was too much light. 

From here, your view is mostly backyard and privacy shrubbery but you can imagine that on just the other side is the road. And who knows if cars are passing by at this time of night, but they could be. And inside those cars are kids laughing as they are taken back from some party.  Or maybe it’s just someone trying to clear their head. The weight of everything has finally pushed their spine too far and if they don’t do something, don’t do anything, they’re sure to snap. 

Maybe cars are just out because folks are heading home from the late shift, heading out to the late shift and all around are just folks living lives. And you are here. Sitting at a keyboard, hoping that your fingers find something to say. But that is a life living too, you suppose. You are a life living too. By the time you turn your attention back to the keys, your fingers are moving and the haunting sounds swell for a moment, trail off and up near the higher end, you pick it back up. 

There’s nothing wrong with where you are, of course. It’s comfortable. It’s familiar and it’s not that you’re bored with Calum, or the relationship. But part of you wants to hear cars going by. You want to be in those cars, sometimes. You don’t think your youth was snatched from you but you do think that maybe you had always been a little too cautious, had always played things a little too safe. 

There’s life happening in this house, you remind yourself, fingers running down the scale. It gets like this sometimes. Having you remind yourself that there’s nothing wrong with the way you’ve played your cards. They’ve worked out for you. And it’s only at night, when you’re alone with your thoughts that you start to second guess everything. You always joke that it’s a talent that takes years to perfect to overthink like you do.  Really it’s not so bad, it’s not. 

The keys sing out for a moment longer, waiting for more of your fingers to work magic over them. But all you can do is just sit and stare and imagine the neon lights bathing a street in their glow and how heels are clicking against asphalt and how someone’s bent over their plate of greasy food. Or maybe someone’s leaning into a wall, in a too brightly lit dinner, praying for the sun to finally lift the curtain of darkness. 

“You never said you could play piano?” It’s Calum’s scratchy and hoarse voice from behind you. 

You shrug before spinning around in the chair. “I only play by ear mostly. Not trained to play it really.”

He shuffles, scratching at his scalp for a second before that hand stretches out. “Well, you sound lovely. Bed?”

“Can’t sleep,” you answer, trailing your fingers over his skin. It sends a shiver down his spine at how cold your fingers are and how soft the touch is; he’ll never get used to it. It’s been a year as if and it always catches him off guard. 

His fingers wrap over yours and tugs to bring you to your feet. “Teach me.” It’s a soft command and in the darkness as your eyes have adjusted you can see and hear how sleep is still holding onto him. He probably woke up to go to the bathroom or maybe the piano playing woke him. 

“Did I wake you?”

Calum doesn’t answer. Instead he settles into the chair and pats his lap. “Teach me.”

You shrug. “I don’t--I don’t even remember what I played. It just,” you gesture for a moment, like vomit coming out of your mouth. 

He shrugs. “Play me something else then.” The command comes with another pat to his thighs. 

You don’t raise anymore arguments and settle into him. Calum turns the hair with his feet, arms wrapping around your waist. His breath tickles your back. Your fingers settle curled and ready for your thoughts to carry them. But for a moment in time, all you focus on is the way Calum’s breathing causes his chest to just brush up against your back. You let yourself breathe in time with him for a moment. 

The first note hits the air and it lingers, nearly fading out before the next one accompanies it. It’s a dance, you see now. Two people who have fallen in sync with each other. The tempo you’ve created makes you think of a waltz, dazzling lights and the clinking of tea cups against their porcelain saucers. You think about when you were a kid and thought about how magical a moment it is to find the one, to lock eyes across the room with the person that will get to see your soul, naked and truly you. 

Somewhere in the years that childlike wonder when it comes to love tarnished.  Maybe it’s all the hearts that weren’t gentle with yours and maybe it’s all the hearts you weren’t gentle with. Maybe it’s the beds you almost got into. Maybe it’s the friends that you lost contact with just because that’s the way the world spins. People come in for a season and you want them to stay for harvest. How fucked up is it, to have a heart that yearns to be loved and to give love, but manages to get attached to the wrong people, to know that even things with pure intents can be mistakes.

Calum squeezes your waist. The particular harsh throaty croaks catch his ears and he’s not sure where this is going, what’s happening but he wants you to know that he’s here. He won’t let you fall. “It’s okay,” he murmurs against your skin, lips brushing and leaving behind in their wake a trail of tingles. 

“Do you remember your dreams?” you asks, finally bringing your gaze back to the keys in front of you and not the beige wall. 

“I don’t think I dream much anymore. Not any ones that are interesting really.”

“We all dream. You just don’t remember them that’s all.”

Calum chuckles, leaning a bit to the side to see your face. “There’s one dream. That keeps coming back.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember your dreams?”

“I asked you first.”

With a kiss to your back, he exhales deeply. “I’m in some sort of field. Tall grass. Some flowers. But there’s this dirt path in front of me. It splits into two and one’s into some deep forest. The other seems to go on for miles with more field, most flat land. Can’t see the end for either one of them. And I’m just, like, standing there. Really. That’s it. Just standing.”

“Never pick a path?” you ask letting the run play once, then twice, then a third time in half speed. 

“Well, if I pick the forest. I meet an angel halfway through. Can’t really make out any details. Just a general human like figure in bright light. I try to talk to them. But they’re silent, singing up into the skies for what seems like forever. I can stand there as long as I want and they never drop the note.” As the sentence leaves his mouth, he notices that you replay the same note once, twice, a third time and even a fourth. 

“What’s in the forest?”

“Besides some trees and the angel?” You nod. Another exhale from him tickles your skin. “Not much. Not much animal life. No wind. Just us two. I can walk down some more. It’s more trees that outline the path and a river. Sometimes I skip the angel and just go straight to staring up through the clear water of this river, up to the bright sun and I just float. Let the current take me. I can float right pass my mum. She never hears me under the water. My dad’s a little further down. He doesn’t hear me. Mali’s there too. The guys. Friends from back in Australia. None of them can hear me and then that angel comes back, like right at the end after everyone else has seemingly just let me go by. They’re right there. I almost don’t even try with them, you know. Just figure that if the end has to take me it will. But they see me. They’re watching and it’s like finally my arms can break through the surface of the water. And they just latch on.”

“Do you think you needed to be saved? Or just wanted it? Like do you know that there’s danger on the other side?”

Calum hadn’t thought about that. By the time he’s free from the water he’s awake, or his alarm is going off. “I don’t know if there’s danger.”

“What’s down the other path?” Your fingers are still carrying over the keys, you’re thinking that flat plains need half notes. What’s the worst that could happen? You know you won’t be staying there long, not if there’s more to Calum’s dream. 

“I’ve never gone down that path. I’ve wondered about it. But any time that dream happens I always choose the forest.”

“Is there anything you want to be down there? Do you wish it a path to something?”

“I wouldn’t even begin to have an idea.”  

That’s content if you’ve ever heard it. If you ever had to play a song for it too. “I think you want to be saved. You don’t need it. Just want to know that people are there for you.”

“Maybe,” he hums in agreement. The music hasn’t stopped but it has slowed. The notes have more space, the sit longer, ring longer in his ears. “Do you remember your dreams?”

“Nah, I think they hate me.”

“They don’t hate you. You’re, like, the least hateable person in the world.”

You scoff, gaze falling back outside the window. Maybe all the cars have parked now. Maybe the kids finally got home. That late shift ended for that one person and just started for the other. There are no more heels to click. No more fries to scarf down. No more grease to pop at the skin. 

“Anxious again?” The question is soft. You almost don’t hear it from Calum’s lip, but you do feel it as he speaks. 

“Little bit, I guess.”

“Wanna go for a ride tomorrow?Maybe pack up and just see what’s out there for a day?”

“We can, yeah. Maybe it’ll help.” Maybe it’ll make you feel human again, connected to the masses but still living your own life. You play it out, thinking of what an angel means and what it must feel like to finally break through that water. How relief must flood his body and his veins. 

Release. To let go. Release. What a relief. And soon the keys have no more life in them, no more croaking or groaning or taps from your fingers and you just let things sink, fall how they must out and maybe it’s okay to let go. 

“Yeah we can go for a ride,” you say. Only to be meet by silence. Calum’s breath is deep. You can feel it in your back. His hold around you has slackened just a little and you know he’s falling, giving into sleep--if not already there. 

You turn off the keyboard and tap his forearm. It wakes him. “Sleepy?” he asks. You’re sure his eyes are closed. 

Sleep hasn’t gripped you yet. But you and Calum should probably get back to bed, especially him. “On it’s way,” you return, knowing sleep will find you, just not as immediately as it found Calum. 

He hums, pushing back and after you stand, he shuffles back to the bedroom. The sheets smell like him and a little bit like Duke, but they’re a packaged deal. But you wouldn’t have it any other way. You lay on your back, fingers trailing over the skin of Calum’s forearm slung over your stomach. 

“I do remember my dreams,” you whisper. Calum hums, fingers flexes a bit and squish the flesh of you side. He doesn’t say anything though. So you continue on. “I’m standing in a field. Tall grass, some flowers. There’s a dirt road. It diverges and I don’t head further down into the fields. I go up into the trees. And I bathe myself in sunlight as a traveller comes by. They never seem lost. They just continue straight on, past me, down to the river. Sometimes I find them floating around. Sometimes I save them. But every time, we meet, in the middle of the trees.”

[mirroredranger]

Something’s wrong.

It was like a paralyzing scream. Only, it came from far out, and far above.

Valerie watched as the shadow took off in the sky. Other people were watching until it vanished. Was it-

A high pitched error scream came from Valerie’s phone. “Styler, turn it down!” The redhead went to duck inside the base to check, until a staticky voice came from the rotom-possessed phone.

“Don’t go in THERE!”

Styler hated the voice options from the phone. They refused to use them, using their own natural chirps to communicate. Or if absolutely necessary, Valerie’s own styler options. Either one worked to convey a message or be used in a prank.

The automatic doors of the base shut in front of Valerie. The sensor should keep them open. Styler wouldn’t be able to be in her phone and-

Instantly, Valerie took off for the docks, reading the message that came in. There was no way this was a prank from Shadow, right? The reserved person didn’t seem to be up for pranks, just healing. Valerie’s styler beeped with a new message from the Rangernet.

“Ranger Winters, turn over your Ultra styler, you will be escorted to HQ.”

Something is wrong. Valerie’s heart is racing more. Everything felt so fragmented.

“Styler. Do what you can. Disconnect me from the rangers, now.” Her voice was so even, the training she had before she forgot and the training from after falling kicked in. The pokemon possessed their nicknamesake, causing it to glitch in error. Valerie could feel her heart stop, until the screen lit up with a winky emoji.

The most important thing now was to find help and to get off of Malie. The union was likely watching the skies and the docks, making travel that way not easy.

On Route 11, Valerie dialed, praying that the phone would be answered. No, dammit! She couldn’t leave a voicemail. She tried again. No dice. Route 12 was looming ahead, a difficult trek on foot. She’d have to give up on calling anyone until she could get away.

Halligan navigated the rough terrain, despite how rough it was on his feet and how tightly his ranger held onto him. Valerie recalled him, then looked out at the beach. There was a mantine, waiting away from the others. It was a wild one, hoping for treats.

Dread filled Valerie’s stomach at the thought. It felt like an unknown evil reaching out of the waters to grab her. She could stall a bit, right? Even with a partner pokemon like a mudsdale, it would take the rangers a bit to get here. Maybe they’d give up- no, rangers don’t give up. People are relying on her.

One, two.... the third loop closed on the confused mantine, capturing it. Valerie checked her styler. Mantine wasn’t recorded into her browser. The Ultra Styler was disconnected from the union. She couldn’t wait anymore. 

Slowly, the fleeing ranger climbed onto Mantine’s back. It took some coaxing and pokebeans to get it to go out farther into the water, but soon, it was speeding off.

There was only so far they could go like this.

[uswnt-owns-this-homo]

Babe- (Emily Sonnett x Reader)

(Little bit of background:

Reader lives in Orlando and plays for the Pride. She and Emily are usually the goofy ones of the team and are known as the wonder twins. The team is in Orlando for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup in this)

The girls had all come around and I was tired. So very tired. It had all started out as a little funny idea. Practice had been rough, Vlatko feeling out everyone and pushing you, trying to prepare an Olympics worthy team. Everyone had been a little scuffed up, leaving the field incredibly sore, hopped up on Advil and the thought that there would be an open day tomorrow.

    Which is how I’m in the situation I am currently in. Everyone's dancing, having a few drinks, overall not a terrible time. Except for one thing. Emily Fucking Sonnett has shown up 2 hours late, a, as much as I detest the idea, decidedly okay-looking women on her arm. Now, this normally would not be an issue. But, normally, you wouldn’t have a huge ass crush on your best friend, your partner in crime. Yeah, try to explain your irrational jealousy and overall bitchiness to Saucy Sonnett without letting that slip. I gag slightly as I see the girl, Ashley? Sam? I don’t fucking know, pat Emily’s cheek, slipping her other arm around the small girl’s waist. I’m not drunk enough for this shit. And with that thought I go for another drink, only to run into Mal.

   “Hey, y/n, I’ve been looking for you. How you holdin’ up, bruiser?”

Ah, the all too popular nickname your teammates had come up with.

  “Mal, that was one practice, and how was I supposed to know Ash was going to try and prank me??”

I reach around her for the rum I have stashed in my cabinet, grabbing it and getting the coke from the cooler. She rests her hand on my shoulder, giving me her patented mal-pugh-puppy dog-eyes.

  “Okay, but seriously, how are you, know it can’t be super easy,”

I wince and throw back half of my solo cup, looking into it and swirling the alcohol heavy drink around.

   “Well, I’m doing just fine, maly paly, how about yourself?”

She rolls her eyes and leads me into the living room, filled with our national teammates.I lean my head on her shoulder, trying to hold back semi angry, semi sad tears.

  “Man, I’m trying to help your ass, you gotta do something about this, we’ve all seen how y’all look at each other,”

I shake my head, scoffing.

  “Mal, she obviously doesn’t. She brought Brooke or whatever the fuck her name is, didn’t she?”

Mal just shakes her head, giving my head a pat and walking away to go find Rose or Emily or someone. I sit in my corner and nurse the rest of my drink, trying to avoid looking at Sonnett.

  Periodically people come over to talk to me, trying to convince me to go talk to Sonny. It’s not until Megan staggers over for the third time that I snap.

     “Dude! She obviously doesn’t like me like that! I thought she did but she doesn’t, she literally brought another girl to the party, and if that doesn’t spell, ‘hey don’t really like you y/n’ then I don’t know what does!”

I’m crying by the end of my small explosion, something any of the team rarely sees.

   “Okay, bruiser, we’re gonna get you some water, maybe some advil, and then we’re going to go talk this out with Rose, and then we’ll see how you feel, okay?”

In any other setting this would be comical. The small 5’6 Megan Rapinoe trying to coax a 6’2 goalkeeper somewhere. I just nod and let her lead me wherever she decides to go. 

   I end up in my bedroom, dressed in my boxers and a sports bra, with a bottle of water.

  “Okay, y/n Pinoe said I should talk to you cause’ you’re all depresso expresso bubs,”

I choke out a laugh, rubbing my face with my large hands and turning to face Rose.

   “Look, Sonny said not to tell you, but I’m tired of the both of you dancing around each other and being all up in denial, so… Sonny brought Tessa to try and move on I guess? I dunno her head works kinda weird. So, my semi plan is that we can all get up in a group, play some truth or dare, and then she picks truth, or you do, and then confess, and it’s a love story for the ages,”

I must still be drunk because that doesn’t seem like a half bad idea. I slowly nod before I get up, heading to the door. I glower at Rose as she grabs my arm.

  “Hey, don’t think any of us would complain, but you should probably like cover the abs, Sonny might just die if you don’t,”

   “Oh, huh, didn’t notice it I guess,”

I quickly put on a tank top, a palm tree with ‘suns out guns out’ printed on it.

Me and Rose both leave my room, heading to the living room where everyone is already sitting on the couches and chairs in a circle. Ash pipes up, grinning wildly.

  “Rosie Posie already told us we’re playing truth or dare, and must I say… Bring it BITCHES!!”

Everyone laughs and we have a small arm wrestling contest to see who goes first. Allysa groans as I slam her hand into the coffee table.

  “Okay, okay, Ali, truth or dare?”

 The game goes well until it’s Emily’s turn to ask and she turns to me.

“Y/n, Executive Frat Daddy Jr, truth or dare?”

Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck! Can’t risk truth, but dare is going to suck ass. Fuck! 

“I’mma go with dare, Son, let’s see what you can cook up,”

She sits with a pensive look on her face for a few moments, her hat slipping down for a moment before she pushes it up.

  “Okay, I’m going to give you a choice. You can either let the group call the person you’re interested in, ooorr… you can drink this the rest of this vodka,”

Oh no. this is a bad. A bery bad. 

  “Yeah, no way I’m letting these asshats call whoever, so I guess we’re chugging this bitch,”

Em whistles, her arm around the girl she brought. Why the fuck can’t I remember her name? I take the bottle, which is a little more than half way full, and twist off the cap.

  “Let this go down in history as the night that y/n y/l/n defied death!”

I nod at Ash, thanking her for her full support of my dumbassery.

  “Wait, if I’m draining this then lets raise the stakes. I’m completely confident in my ability to not vomit with this so, if I do, I’ll let y’all call my mystery person!”

Everyone cheers and I throw up a quick fist before I get to chugging. I get about ¾ of the way through my half and my stomach starts to roll. Aw hell nah, we are not calling Emily. No fucking way. I last a few more chugs, leaving about an inch or two at the bottom of the bottle before my stomach really starts to roll.

  “Oh fuck, she’s gonna barf!”

I run to my bathroom, clipping my foot on the coffee table, and sprawling myself on it.

  “Shit, shit, pick her up! Y/n, when the hell did ya’ get so heavy,”

I groan as they stand me up and help me to my kitchen sink. I get to it right as the half handle comes back up, along with everything else in my stomach.

  “God, that’s rank, remind me why you picked this Sonnett?”

  “Dude, I thought she could hold her liquor, or that she’d pick the other option!”

I groan as I finish retching. I stand up and sway lightly, trying to walk to my fridge to get some water. I take a swig and straighten up.

  “Okay, listen up bitches! Since I did a piss poor job at the dare, y’all are gonna call mystery person of interest,”

Everyone clambers to get to my phone, which I hand to Ali. She raises her eyebrows at me and I just nod. She dials Em’s number and puts it on speaker, setting it on the coffee table. 

  Em’s eyebrows furrow and she grabs her phone. Her face screws up a bit.

“Yeah, that’s real funny Ali, lets actually call the person now, kay?”

I just look at her.

“There you go. Now, I’m going to go lay down before I ruin any other relationships, I’ll catch y’all at team bonding tomorrow,”

I throw up a quick peace sign before I book it to my room, closing the door and sitting on my bed, peeling off my tank top and laying down before the tears start to leak out of my eyes. I hear someone at my door and huff.

  “I told y’all she didn’t feel like that, I’ve had a rough night, I’d like it if you’d leave me alone,”

Someone chuckles softly.

  “Well you didn’t tell me that I didn’t feel that way so I’m going to wager and say that I’m fine to come in?”

Oh shit. Of course it’s Sonny, I know better than to try and walk away from something that big. I quickly rub my eyes and nose, trying to smooth down my hair slightly before I go open the door.

  Emily’s eyes widen as she glances at my stomach.

 “Oh, whoops, Rose told me to put the shirt on, my bad”

I go to grab the shirt and she stops me, putting her arms around my waist.

  “Dude, I thought I made it obvious by coming up here that I’m interested in you as well, have been since college pretty much. And don’t worry about the shirt, I really don’t mind at all, hotstuff,”

I whip my head to look at her instead of the wall. 

  “Bitch wait. We will be coming back to hotstuff, but more importantly... You are not telling me that 1) you had a crush on dumb college nerd me and 2) we’ve wasted this much time? I would’ve killed to get your attention in college!”

She chuckles and shakes her head.

  “I guess we’re both dumb lesbians then… well, in that case, would you like to go out with me after the cup? I mean only if you want to, we can definitely go back to mutually pining.”

I shake my head.

  “Yeah, no, don’t think so. Well, since you’re already here, would you like to stay over so you don’t have to drive back to yours? Or I can drive you back, I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink, or I can sleep on the couch it’s totally fi-“

  “Dude, we’ve literally roomed together for every camp and tournament, I’d love to sleep over,”

I shrug and we both go about getting ready to sleep. I grab her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that she left over for these exact occurrences. We both brush our teeth and then sink into my bed.

   I leave about a foot of space between us, not wanting to weird Emily out, but she just huffs, grabs my arms, and pulls me to where they wrap around her waist.

  “You gotta chill, we’ve been doing this for years, now we just get to enjoy it and know that we’re interested, okay?”

I nod and tighten my hold, thinking about all it’s taken to come here, and how good it feels now that we’ve sorted everything out. 

   I wake up to a mouthful of hair, which isn’t a new experience when waking up next to Emily “I shed more than a German Shepherd with a skin condition” Sonnett. There’s both a pounding in my head and at my door. I groan as the night comes back to me, tightening my hold on Emily’s waist. I try to gently move away from her, but only get the tightening of hands and a low, drawn out whine.

  “Fuck whoever decided to come and get you, I want to cuddle,”

I chuckle, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and picking her up, carrying her bridal style to my front door and opening it.

  “Hello, this is the y/l/n household, how may we help you on this fine day?”

Ashlyn looks up from her phone and lets out an uncharacteristic squeal when she hears Emily.

  “Oh my god! Y’all totally fucked right? Who am I asking, of course you did! Well the whole team is waiting downstairs so maybe freshen up and don’t keep us waiting? Today’s a beach day and we’re all stuck waiting on your sorry asses,”

  She goes to rush downstairs, presumably to tell the whole team about Emily and I. I quickly grab her by the shoulder, promptly dumping Em on the ground.

  “Oh fuck, sorry babe, my b.”

  “Now, you, we did not, as you so crudely put it, ‘totally fucked’. Em stayed here last night after we figured some stuff out. So, go tell the team we’ll be down in like 10, thanks,”

She quickly nods as I help Emily up, lacing our hands as we go into my room. I quickly give her one of my hoodies, some shorts she’s left over, and a spare bathing suit she has left over as well. I let her shower in the master, going downstairs to shower and then change into a floral print shirt over a black bikini with swim shorts. By the time I get out of the shower, Emily is waiting in the living room, a small cooler packed with beer and water.

  “Thanks babe, we ready to go?”

Now, this term of endearment is not new. The blush that spreads over the usually pale cheeked Sonny is though.

  “Wait, are you really blushing over babe? I’ve called you babe since junior year of college Em! This is definitely going to be used to my advantage,”

She just shrugs and mumbles something.

“What was that emmy? Can’t hear you over the blush, babe”

She smiles and grabs my hand.

  “If you could hear, I said ‘you didn’t mean anything by it before, or at least I didn’t think you did, so yes I did blush over it,”

I feel a giant grin slip onto my face and I tuck her under my arm, both of us grabbing any last minute things and heading downstairs. 

  The team is all waiting on us and we quickly head to a little place in town to get some breakfast. We all pile into a corner booth, me and Emily squeezing into the corner. Ash and Pinoe are almost vibrating with excitement and Megan pretty much screams at us.

  “Okay, y’all are gonna tell us all the juicy deets about y’all doing the hanky panky last night, right?”

I start to crack up and Emily puts her hand on my shoulder. I gasp and motion for Emily to explain.

   “Well, after you crackheads left, I went upstairs to try and chat with bruiser here and she was crying and so she answered the door almost nude and then we established that we’re going to go out after the cup, and then we went to bed, and that’s it,”

  Ash and Pinoe both boo and the rest of the team just nods. I put my hand on Em’s hand under the table and she laces our fingers together. The waitress comes and we order food, eating it quickly and then heading to the beach for a fun day in the surf.

   It’s been two weeks since me and Emily officially got together and it’s been pretty great. The first game of the SheBelieves Cup is tomorrow and me and Emily are both lounging around my apartment, trying to mentally prepare. We’ve discussed coming out to the fans a quiet a bit and decided that if they ask, we’ll tell, but not until then. We’ve talked more and are now officially girlfriends, and we’ve gone out for breakfast almost everyday, driving to training together, and spending the evenings with each other or the rest of the team. The rest of the night goes by pretty quickly, Em and I playing some video games and watching last years semi-final game against England in the World Cup to prepare. We fall asleep at around 11:30 wrapped up tightly in my bed, Emily laying on top of my chest, my arms around her waist.

   Today’s the day. The first day of the cup, and my start for the USWNT in one of the most important games in the cup. Vlatko told me that I would be starting and I’m pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head. Emily is also starting, so we’ll get to play together. The team meets at the Exploria stadium and we all start to individually warm up. I have my airpods in and am in the middle of some volleys with AD when Emily runs up to me. I turn off the music and look at her, smiling at the small shine in her eye from her love of the game.

  “Okay, so, I had a grand idea, and Rosie Posie agrees, so does Ms. Kelley,” “Okay then, what’s the grand idea that has popped into your head, Ms. Sonny?”

She grins really big.

 “Well, someone mentioned that they need people for press after the game, and I may have volunteered us two, and then I thought, why not kill two metaphorical birds with a metaphorical anvil, or however that goes, and maybe we could tell people tonight?”

I laugh at her phrasing and go to hug her.

  “I mean, sure, Em! We’re both getting a start, we’re on home turf, why not? Let’s do it babe!”

She laughs and runs back to the defenders. I turn to AD and she grins at me.

  “I’m sure you know it, but, you break her heart and every one of them is going to ruin you,”

I chuckle.

  “Yeah, I know. The day I hurt her is the day they take out my ankles,”

We chat about AD’s fiance for a bit while we volley, and then the game is set to start.

  Me and Sonny stand beside each other for the anthem, our hands brushing as we stand facing the flag. The team gets into a quick huddle before the game, and everyone looks to me to do a pre-game pep talk.

  “Okay y’all, all I really have to say is let’s go out there, bring the boom, show them what team USA’s all about, eh? We got this, we did it in the world cup, we can do it again. Let’s do this!”

Everyone does our pre-game chant and we all take our positions. I slap Em on the shoulder as I go take my place in goal and she winks at me. 

   The games goes great. We win with two points over England, and no serious injuries. I mean, Toby did get a bit of a hair pull, but Chrissy took care of that. The team is back in the locker room, celebrating and getting ready for post-game stuff. Me and Sonny get a drink and then go to do press. We walk out of the tunnel and over to where they need us, taking a couple seats in front of the interviewer.

  “So, y/n, Emily, how does it feel to both start, in your guy’s home stadium?”

“Well it’s not really home yet, at least not quite for me, but it’s pretty amazing, we all played so well, and just had a really nice game,”

I nod along with what Emily said and smile as the interviewer turns to me.

  “What about you y/n? How do you feel about tonight?”

“Well, I didn’t have many shots on goal so I’d say it was pretty rad, uh, we all were really connected and on top of things, it was no easy game, for sure, but I think we just brought it,”

  “Now, fans have been speculating for years, and it’s fired up again in the past couple weeks, but are you dating anyone, y/n? They seem to have picked up on something!”

I glance at Emily and she nods, grinning.

  “I mean, yeah, I’ve recently started dating someone, so if they picked up on that, they must really be in tune with us,”

The interviewer leans in closer.

  “Any specific people, any specific things to say?”

“I guess I just want to say that she makes me really happy, and I’m glad I get to train with her and play with her almost everyday!”

I grab Emily’s hand and kiss it before placing it on the table, winking at the camera, thinking about how lucky I am and how glad I am that I threw up on my dare.

[lilacsos]

Hogwarts!SOS Part One

A/N: So I’m really excited about this AU and I want to thank @thew0rldneedsmcreycghurt for helping me out so much! Love ya! Also, this part covers their sorting all the way until “current” them. Please feel free to request stuff! I’ll write the boys with any reader in any house with any little plot. Also, this takes place after Harry Potter is born but before he’s in school

Words: 4759 I got carried away

Pairing: None

*Warnings*: Bullying, two fights

Summary: The 5SOS boys are going to Hogwarts and this is only the beginning

Luke Hemmings  Calum Hood  Ashton Irwin  Michael Clifford

This is a long one so there’s a read more

Calum Hood was extremely excited about going to Hogwarts. His sister Mali Koa is going into her fourth year and he’s heard amazing things from her. The entire Hood family has been in Slytherin since they first began going to Hogwarts. However, the Hood family is unlike most Slytherin families. They believe everyone is equal no matter their blood status and they never worked for Voldemort. Mali spent most of her first three years at school convincing people that she was on the right side and would never side with Voldemort or hurt anyone. It worked and it was well known around school that you could trust a Hood and their friends.

“Come on Calum! We have to get a good spot.” Mali groaned, tugging her little brother onto the train by his arm. The two raced through the train, looking for a good compartment to sit in. Mali of course had her favorite spot she sat in every year but if Calum didn’t pick up the pace, then they’d lose it. Luckily, the siblings were fast enough to reach their spot. Calum and Mali waved to their parents as the train left the station and the two continued to wave until their family were just specks in the distance. “Alright, first order of business Calum.” Mali stated, getting the attention of the 11-year-old. “As a Hood, it’s your job to protect people. Now that You-Know-Who is gone, people feel safer but there are Slytherin assholes all over the school that bully the other kids. But we are one of the good guys. We stick up for them and make sure everyone knows they can trust us.”

“What if I’m not in Slytherin?”

Mali only rolled her eyes and smiled at her brother. “Trust me. You will. Now, Dad gave me some money for snacks. What would you like?” As the two discussed their snack options, two blonde boys rushed past their room with a younger blonde following close behind.

…

The older two Hemmings boys were an absolute menace to everyone around them. Ben Hemmings was also in his fourth year with Mali and Jack was starting his third year. The two Gryffindor boys had only been at Hogwarts for a few short years, but they already had quite the reputation. They were loud, obnoxious, and chaotic; they gave teachers and students alike headaches but almost everyone loved them. They had hearts of gold despite the disasters they made everywhere they went.

Luke, the youngest brother, was going into his first year and he couldn’t be more different than the older two. Luke was shy and quiet and often kept to himself. He didn’t like to cause trouble and he didn’t like people looking at him. He was living in the shadow of his brothers and he didn’t mind at all. No one saw him in the shadows and that was just how he liked it.

Jack and Ben fought their way into a compartment, shoving the other out of their way so they could try to take up as much space as possible. Seeing his brothers shove each other in the hall, Luke slipped into the empty room and took a seat next to the window, watching the scenery pass by.

…

Only one compartment over, a young boy with dark blonde hair sat with a boy with jet black hair. Ashton Irwin sat entranced as the boy told him everything about the magical world. Ashton was a muggle-born and he had so idea magic existed until a few short months ago. His world was flipped upside down, but his mother couldn’t be more excited for her son. Before Ashton left, she made him promise to have fun and teach her all about this new world when he got home for break. Ashton was sitting by himself before this other boy came in and asked if he could sit with him. Tommy was a pureblood so he felt like it was his job to teach Ashton everything he could about magic before they got to Hogwarts.

“So when we get there you’ll be sorted into the houses. I’m sure someone will talk about it but there’s secrets you need to know first.”

Ashton nodded and leaned forward, signaling Tommy to continue.

“The houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Gryffindor is the best house there is. Ravenclaw is for all the nerds and Hufflepuff only has losers.” Ashton frowned at his companion’s words but listened anyway. However, Ashton noticed he had forgotten one of the houses.

“What about Slytherin? That’s the fourth one, right?”

Tommy shook his head, almost in disappointment at Ashton’s questions. “You don’t want to be in Slytherin. That’s the house the evilest wizard was in. Everyone in that house is a bad egg. But you won’t have to worry about that. I can tell right now that you’d never be in Slytherin. You’re far too nice Ashton so don’t even worry. Besides, everyone knows that muggle-borns aren’t accepted into that house.”

With a glare, Ashton then made up his mind that he was going to get into Slytherin no matter what happens. He was going to prove this boy wrong.

…

At the cart outside the room, an energetic blonde boy stood with a few other students. Michael Clifford was no stranger to the magical snacks since his mother had often talked about them and brought him home some when she could. Michael’s mom was a witch but his dad was a muggle, making him half-blooded. His mom made sure that he grew up knowing as much about both worlds as he could, just to prepare him in case he wasn’t a wizard. Luckily for him, he was and Michael was very excited to be here. Michael bought as much food as he could and began putting them in his pockets.

“What are you going to do with that Michael?” A young girl asked, wrinkling her nose at the sight of him shoving food into his robe pockets.

“You never know when you’ll need a snack.” Michael shrugged and followed the group back to their room. “What house do you guys want to get in? I hope I’m in anything but Ravenclaw. Everyone says that’s where the losers all go.” The others laughed at his words, agreeing that no one wanted Ravenclaw. Michael settled back into his seat and smiled to himself, happy to finally be going to Hogwarts.

…

The first years all made their way off the train and followed a giant man onto the boats that took them to the castle. Some students were mesmerized by the castle but others, like Calum, had heard of the castle enough from their family to not be impressed. When the boats stopped, everyone climbed out and made their way into the castle, following a stern looking woman. “Now,” she began, stopping outside of two large doors, “you will be sorted into your house. The people in your house will be your friends and teammates. You will work together. There is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Please, follow me.” The first years made their way into the Great Hall and gasps filled the air as they took in the sight of the floating candles and the ceiling that looked like the night sky. Excited whispers began but they were quickly shut down as the woman spoke once more. “I will call your name and you’ll come up and sit on the stool to be sorted. Michael Clifford.”

Michael looked around just in case there was another Michael Clifford that would step up but when no one moved, he cleared his throat and stepped up to the front. Once he was seated, the woman rested the hat on his head.

“Mr. Clifford is it? I remember your mother well. She was an outstanding Gryffindor. I see here that’s what you want as well. Hmm…” The hat trailed off and Michael looked out into the sea of people, wondering if anyone could hear the hat. “You would make a lovely Gryffindor, but I think there is somewhere else that you would excel in. A house that will challenge you to be yourself.” The hat was quiet for a moment before it shouted for the whole school to hear, “Ravenclaw!”

Michael was stunned and watched as the kids he had been talking to began to laugh while the Ravenclaw table cheered and welcomed him over with open arms. Michael could just imagine everyone calling him a loser and so it was then he decided that he would make sure no one called him a loser. “Luke Hemmings.” The woman called after the crowd died down. If you were looking close enough, you could see the grimace on her face as the young boy scurried up to the stool.

Luke could see his brothers out of the corner of his eye which only made him more afraid. Not only was the who school watching, his brothers were there too. “Luke Hemmings. Your brothers are quite the characters. They’re Gryffindors through and through but you, there’s something different about you. Something that I believe makes you differ from your family.” Luke’s eyes widened in fear as he started to piece together what the hat was getting at. Luke wasn’t going to be in Gryffindor and that terrified him. What would he do without his brothers to hide behind? What if he disappointed his parents? What was he going to do? “Hufflepuff!” As he walked to the Hufflepuff table, Luke could see the shock on his brothers’ faces as they slowly clapped.

“Calum Hood.”

Calum smiled and gave his sister a little thumbs up as he took a seat. “Another Hood? Your sister is in Slytherin, as is the rest of your family. You are a fiercely loyal young boy and you would do well anywhere, but I believe tradition will serve you very well Mr. Hood.” Calum’s body visibly relaxed as the hat called out, “Slytherin!” The moment the hat was off, Calum ran to the Slytherin tabled and slid into the seat his sister saved for him.

“Ashton Irwin.”

The young boy squared his shoulder and with a pat on his back from Tommy, he made his way to the hat. “Nice to meet you Mr. Irwin. My, you are very confusing, aren’t you? You could do well anywhere, and my first reaction would be to put you in Gryffindor, but you don’t want that. I don’t always listen to requests, but I can feel the ambition behind you. If you’re sure.” A smug smirk graced Ashton’s face as the hat yelled, “Slytherin!”

As Ashton passed Tommy on his way to the table he stopped and mumbled, “I don’t have to worry huh?”

…

A week into school Calum heard rumors about the Irwin boy in his house. People had been saying he was a muggle-born so there was no way he should be in Slytherin and he definitely shouldn’t be at the school. There was talk about perhaps the hat made a mistake but most of what Calum heard were plans to put Irwin in his place. Calum had no idea what people were planning but he knew that he needed to make sure Ashton was hurt or anything. It was the right thing to do and it’s exactly what his sister wanted him to do as well. After potions class one day, Calum ran after Ashton to catch up to him.

“Hey man, I’m Calum Hood. You’re Ashton Irwin, right?” Calum held out his hand for Ashton to take.

Ashton only stared at Calum for a few minutes before slowly shaking his hand. “Yeah, why?”

“Well I figured since we’re both first year Slytherins we should stick together. We could be friends.” Calum said happily, hoping Ashton would agree to be his friend so he could keep an eye out for him.

“Don’t you have enough friends?” That shocked Calum. He didn’t expect Ashton to react that way.

Calum cleared his throat and looked around them. “Those people aren’t my friends and, I heard from a few people that they want to put you in your place. A lot of Slytherins don’t like having a muggle-born in their house. I don’t mind at all and I think it would be good for you to have someone on your side.”

Ashton crossed his arms over his chest and looked behind Calum, seeing a very angry fifth year glaring at Ashton. “So it’s just business?”

Calum chuckled and shook his head. “No, yes but no. I do want to be your friend. What do you say?”

With a small smile and a nod, Ashton agreed and the two walked off to their next class together.

…

In their third year, Calum was walking through the halls when he saw a young girl against the wall with a Gryffindor boy in his year standing in front of her. She looked terrified and the boy was yelling at her. “Watch it Hufflepuff. Stay out of my way next time or there will be hell to pay.”

Calum balled his hands into fists as he watched the young girl begin to cry and promise to stay out of his way. He thought that maybe the boy would leave her alone but he didn’t budge. He only got closer to her while she tried to move as far away from him as possible. Calum marched over and tapped the boy on the shoulder and the moment he turned around, Calum punched him right on the nose. The girl ran off and out of the corner of his eye he could see a blonde boy hold the girl to comfort her. However, he didn’t have long to think about them as the Gryffindor tackled Calum to the ground. The two boys were just a mass of limbs as they each tried to get another hit on the other. The Gryffindor managed to land a hit on Calum’s face, splitting his lip, but that was the only damage Calum suffered.

A teacher ran over and pulled the boys away from each other, shouting, “What happened here? Who started this?”

Before either boy could answer, the blonde caring for the girl spoke up. “The Gryffindor started it. He was scaring Katie and Calum stepped in to help her when this colossal idiot hit Calum.” He looked at Katie who nodded, agreeing with the lie. “Calum had to fight back to defend himself.”

The teacher looked between the two boys and after telling them to get fixed up, she dragged the Gryffindor off to her office.

Calum dusted himself off and made his way over to Katie. “Hey, are you alright?”

Katie nodded and let a small smile slip. “Yeah, thanks to you and Michael.” She gave Calum a quick hug before she ran off to class.

The other boy, Michael, smiled and offered Calum a bread roll he pulled out of his coat. “Nice swing.”

Calum chuckled and took the food. “Thanks for lying for me back there. I didn’t think he’d land a hit on me or that a teacher would come over.”

Michael shrugged and leaned against the wall. “That Gryffindor had it coming. He’s always picking on the first years and I’m just glad someone gave him what he deserved. And that you were there to help Katie. You’re pretty cool for a Slytherin.”

With a small smile, Calum nodded. “Yeah. I think it’s stupid that people can’t get along or people think blood status means anything. Slytherins are known for thinking purebloods are superior when it’s not true. My sister and I try our hardest to make sure we’re there for the little guy.”

“I’m glad someone thinks so. Most of you guys are giant assholes so I’m glad there are at least two good guys.”

“You know,” Calum began as he thought about Ashton. “There is another. My buddy Ashton Irwin is in Slytherin too. He’s a muggle born and he’s all about showing people a good person can be in Slytherin. I think the three of us could be pretty good friends.”

Pretty good was an understatement. Calum, Ashton, and Michael became thicker than thieves. The three boys were almost attached at the hip and always had the other’s back. If Ashton got into trouble, Michael was quick to lie and get him out of it. If Michael ever ran into an issue, especially about being a Ravenclaw, Ashton was the first one to tell the other person off. And of course, if Calum ever got into another first fight, it only took a few seconds for the other two to jump in and help.

…

Luke kept to himself and didn’t make any friends until his fifth year. It wasn’t that he didn’t want friends, it’s just he didn’t know how to make friends. He was very shy and afraid to stand out too much so instead of embarrassing himself while talking to people, he just didn’t talk at all.

One day in fifth year, Luke was in his potions class not really paying attention when Snape called on him. “Hemmings, what is the first ingredient in the Draught of Peace?”

Luke looked up from his table and stared at Professor Snape with wide eyes. He knew Snape was talking to him, but he didn’t know why he would have been. Luke has never raised his hand in his five years at school and so far, no teachers have ever called on him. Not only was Luke shy, he wasn’t very smart either. So even if he wasn’t afraid to speak up, he’d still be clueless. With a deep breath, Luke softly answered, “I don’t know.”

For a moment, Luke wondered if Snape had even heard his response, but his question was soon answered when Snape’s glare deepened. “You don’t know? We have been discussing this potion for a month Hemmings. This will be on your OWLs and you expect to pass them without knowing the first step? 30 points from Hufflepuff because you’re so unbelievably stupid.” At this, another blonde in the front of the room stood. Snape turned his attention to the other boy and crossed his arms over his chest. “Something to add Clifford?”

Michael Clifford looked between Snape and Luke before clearing his throat. “Yeah. Fuck off and leave him alone.”

If Snape had been a cartoon, his face would be bright red and smoke would be coming out of his ears. “50 points from Ravenclaw and you’ll be having detention with me for the rest of the week. Sit down and shut up before I make it a month.”

Michael glanced back at Luke but did as he was told and took his place in his seat. For the rest of class, Snape terrorized Michael but at least he left Luke alone. After all, that was what Michael wanted to happen.

After class, Luke tried to run away as quickly as he could but before he could make it too far, Michael caught up to him. With a little corralling on Michael’s part, Luke gave in and stood still, watching the other boy. “Are you alright? Snape was really harsh.” Luke only nodded and looked around them, searching for an escape. Michael then held out his hand and smiled, hoping it would calm the other boy. “I’m Michael Clifford and I’m going to cut to the chase, I think we should be friends. Then you can be friends with my friends. I know you don’t have any friends.”

Luke frowned at Michael’s words, but he was right. He didn’t have any friends and it would be nice to finally have other people besides his brothers to talk to. “I’m Luke Hemmings.”

…

A few weeks later, Luke was very close to Michael, but he was still wary of Ashton and Calum. He had grown up hearing from his parents and brothers that there was no such thing as a good Slytherin. The three boys promised that Luke had nothing to worry about but it was hard for him to trust them. Luke had an easier time trusting Ashton since he was a muggle born and that made him more trustworthy but Calum was different. He was Slytherin through and through. But that all changed in one day.

Luke had a girlfriend for only a few days, but she had been the first girl to ever show interest in him and he really liked her. But it didn’t last as he found out through one of her friends that she had cheated on him. With a heavy sigh, Luke sat with the boys outside by the lake. All conversation stopped when Luke sat down; clearly the other three could tell something was wrong. Without much prompting, Luke told them what happened. “Emily cheated on me with some asshole.”

Before anyone could ask, Calum stood and began stomping around the courtyard. It seemed like he had no idea where he was going but all of a sudden, it was like his vision narrowed on whatever it was he was looking for. Now there was nothing anyone could do to stop him; once Calum was on a mission, he was going to complete it no matter what it took. The other boys ran after him and soon, they figured out where Calum was going. There by the Quidditch pitch was Luke’s now ex-girlfriend and a boy with his arm around her waist. Calum broke out into a sprint and in a few moments, he reached Emily and her new boyfriend. Without a word, Calum kneed the guy in the crotch. He dropped to the ground and curled into a ball, moaning in pain. His friends quickly reacted and jumped Calum, pushing him onto the ground and throwing their own punches. As soon as Luke reached the fight, he jumped in and with one good swing, he knocked out one of the guys. Michael and Ashton joined in once they got there, each getting hit but also landing some hits of their own. At the sound of the commotion, a few teachers, including Snape, ran over and pulled the boys apart. Once everyone was off of each other the questions began. Calum admitted to starting the fight and knowing he would get detention or worse, Luke added that it was his fault the fight begun in the first place. Michael and Ashton weren’t about to let their friends take the fall so they too joined in and told the teachers it had been their fault as well.

“Fine,” Snape snarled. “All four of you can hand clean the trophy room tonight. If you aren’t there by 10 o’clock sharp, I’ll be discussing your expulsion with Dumbledore in the morning.”

That night, the four boys stood in the trophy room as Snape handed out sponges. “You’ll be here until half of the room is clean. Tomorrow night, you’ll finish the rest. Mr. Filch will be outside to make sure you do as you’re told.” And with that, Snape left and it was just the four boys in the room.

Luke quickly got to work, knowing that the sooner they got to work, the sooner they could leave. Ashton seemed to have the same idea as he went to the other side of the room to begin cleaning. The boys were quiet for almost an hour before Calum spoke up. “I’m sorry I got you guys into trouble.”

A loud snort came from another row and Luke poked his head out from between trophies. “Calum, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have told you guys about Emily and then we wouldn’t be here. I just can’t believe you’d get into a fist fight for me.”

At this, all three boys stopped their cleaning and looked over at Luke. Confusion flashed over all their faces as they processed what Luke had said. “Hemmings,” Ashton started, shaking his head. “This isn’t your fault.” The other three walked to Luke’s side of the row while trying to figure out how he could think it was his fault.

Calum nodded and added, “Yeah Luke. You’re our friend and we stick up for our friends. That’s what happens. The guy deserved it anyway.”

Luke stood frozen in place as he looked at the three boys. “You all got into a fight, for me.” He was shocked. He never thought that someone would ever do anything like that for him. Sure he assumed his brothers would have his back, but they had to; they were family. But Ashton, Calum, and Michael didn’t need to do anything for Luke, but they did.

“Of course Luke. You’re our friend. And when I got tackled you were the first person in there taking swings at people. Which you have a great arm. You’d be great on the Quidditch team.” Calum shrugged with a little laugh. “The four of us are friends and friends are there for each other, no matter what.”

Luke looked around at the three boys he had slowly begun to know and smiled. These guys were willing to risk getting expelled for him. They were his friends. “No matter what.” Luke smiled and Michael elbowed him in the side while Calum tossed a sponge at him.

“Let’s get this shit over with. I want to go to bed.” Ashton huffed but smiled as he patted Luke on the back. The others agreed and went back to cleaning all smiling as they did so. It took five years, but the four boys found friends that would be by their side through thick and thin and would last for a lifetime.

That was two years ago now and Michael, Ashton, Calum, and Luke are all in their seventh year, almost done with school forever. As seventh years, the boys have changed quite a bit.

Calum has only made more friends since knowing the boys and most everyone in the school knows they can come to him if there is ever a problem. Even a few teachers have come up to him telling him about a first year that was too scared to walk to class alone. But his problems aren’t always solved with his fists anymore. Calum was a wordsmith but he always kept that to himself. Now, he’s comfortable enough talking to people about his feelings and the feelings of others. Most of the time that solves issues but he still throws a punch at least once a week.

Ashton still hates the fact that all Slytherins are seen as horrible people but he knows that if he can teach one young Slytherin to love everyone the same, they can go on to teach another. Ashton doubts he will ever change the entire wizarding world but he knows he can change the lives of the people around him and he loves it. He loves going to class knowing that just because he can be there for someone, their whole future can change and he’s making history in their lives.

Michael has accepted that he is a Ravenclaw. He still fails tests on purpose, but school has never been important to him. He knows he’s smart, but he continues to use it in an unexpected way. He’d rather make people laugh as he uses his brain to come up with a hilarious prank on Snape than use it to be the top student in his class. There’s more to life than being smart or pretending to fit in. He’s still weird and he still carries food in his pockets but he isn’t ashamed to admit that yes, he’s in the “loser” house.

And finally, Luke was far more confident than he was then and he’s happy to be in Hufflepuff. He likes not always being the center of attention but now he knows how to command attention if he wants it. And after being friends with the boys, he finally knows how to talk to people and make friends; he’s even dated people now. Luke has finally learned that people like him and enjoy talking to him and he likes talking to them as well. But if you ask him, the most important thing he’s learned is that he has three friends, brothers really, that will be there for him every step of the way.

None of them know what they want to do after school or what this new year will hold, but they all know that whatever happens, they aren’t leaving their new brothers behind.

Taglist (let me know if you want to be tagged)

@babylon-corgis @buzzcutcalum  @sexgodashton @gigglyirwin @lucidlrh @starshonerose

[paodequeijofeliz-blog]

Let me tell you a good story

Bloodbound Fanfiction (characters and main story belongs to Pixelberry Studios).

Pairing: Kamilah Sayeed and MC (Annie)

Information:  this takes place after Bloodbound 3, here I’m recreating how Kamilah and MC would meet if she had never gone to Raines Corporation right away.

Summary: Thirty years after meeting Annie for the first time, Kamilah is now a wife and a mother. During a regular family dinner, she decides to tell her daughter and their new son-in-law the story of how she fell in love with Annie after an unusual meeting through the hallways of NYU.

Warnings: none.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Let me tell you a good story - Part 4

March 2nd, 2048.

           “Do not laugh”. – Anna pointed a finger at Drake. – “I was still confused.”

           “Not laughing, I swear. It is completely reasonable that you thought she worked for Ms. Sayeed.” He nervously took a long gulp of soda.

           Kamilah was taping her fingers on the table, a sweet melody playing in her head. Nothing could disturb her peaceful life anymore. She was sitting by a beautiful wife, someone who still held her heart. In front of them, there was the most intelligent and sweet child in the world, named after Kamilah’s brother Lysimachus. Even Drake, the goofy human, was a delight company. He was the perfect balance for Lysia’s seriousness.

           “Are you ok?” Annie’s touch woke her up.

           “I’m perfect. Why don’t you go fetch the dessert while I continue for a while? I left a surprise for you in the microwave.”

           Anna jumped into the kitchen with impressionable speed. If there was one thing she loved, that was Kamilah’s volcano chocolate cake, a masterpiece perfected over years and years of repeatedly baking it.

           “Child.” Both Lysia and Kamilah said at the same time when they saw Annie’s reaction.

           “You know, it creeps me out when you two do that.” Drake scratched his arm, having goosebumps.

           “You should see when they fight!!” Anna yelled from the kitchen. “It’s like watching a couple of clones!”

           They were interrupted by someone opening the door. The flash of a sparkle on Lysia’s face told Kamilah who the person was faster than anything else. The human girl opened the biggest smile she could, but remained sat on the chair, not even losing her posture.

           “Uncle Adrian!”

           “Hi, sweetie. I’m sorry to be late, there was an emergency to solve.” He placed a soft kiss on Lysia’s forehead before shaking Drake’s hands and smiling at Kamilah. “Am I interrupting?”

           “Not at all. We were talking about the past. Actually, little brother, you arrived at the perfect moment. Now you can help me remember this part of the story.”

           “Which story?”

           “Ti storu uf ru we fil in luv.” Anna came back carrying the cake, a big piece of it already missing. Her face had chocolate all over the mouth, nose, and chin.

           Kamilah sighed. At this point, there was no need for translation anymore. Adrian only laughed and carried on. “The story of how you two fell in love? Oh, boy. Rough times. You think Kamilah is a tense person? Should’ve seen her realizing her feelings for Annie. I thought New York wouldn’t survive it.”

           “Adrian, why don’t you continue for us? We were just getting to the part you entered the story.” The vampire queen said over the table while cleaning Annie’s face with a napkin. “And you, behave. The last time you ate so much chocolate, you cried for the entire night with a stomach-ache.”

           “Yu crid the whole niti withy stumachache, bla bla bla” she mocked her wife, taking another big bite of dessert. Kamilah solemnly ignored this part.  

           “Ok, ok. Let’s see… So, after that dinner and the job proposition, Kamilah wanted to either kill or kiss Annie, it was still unclear.”

           “Hmm, both.” Answered Kamilah, watching her wife out of the corner of the eye.

 August 29th, 2018

           The sky was already dark.

           The sky is always dark when Kamilah is looking through the window. The same old dark sky she had seen for years. But, tonight, something feels different. The sight that usually calms her down, the peaceful shade of black marked by the city lights, it was suddenly not enough. There was an irritation growing inside her chest, heavy and dangerous like a bomb ready to explode. The reason of it was worse than the feeling itself. She had felt anger many times before, with better motives. Right now, Kamilah knew deep down it was stupid to be so bothered by something that small. Finally, not being able to stand her own company anymore, her fingers called the same number it always does at moments like this.

           “Hey.” Adrian’s voice surged on the other side of the line.

           “Why hasn’t she given us an answer yet?”

           “What? Who?”

           Kamilah sighed. She was so tired. Angry. Frustrated. “Why hasn’t that mewling tiny stupid woman answered our business proposal? It has been a week, Adrian. There’s a limit for my patience. I don’t have time for this.”

           “Hm, you’re mad.” He just acknowledged it, his voice a little surprised. “I didn’t know this matter to be so urgent. In fact, I remember vividly that you were the one saying not to rush things when I suggested hiring a historian. She must have given you quite the impression to make you so eager to close the deal.”

           She snorted, and Adrian was sure her eyes rolled as well. “It’s not about her. It could be anyone. I just want to put things in motion.”

           “Right.” He didn’t buy it. “Well, my friend, then I’m going to tell you the options we have, since you clearly won’t quiet down until something is done.”

           Kamilah fixed her posture immediately, ready to jump into a plan.

           “Fist: you can call one of the historians on the list I sent to you last month. Call all the fifteen options, if it suits better. They were all graduated in high profile universities and sustain the best curriculums in the country.” Adrian gave it a second of silence, and since she didn’t make a sound, he continued. “Second: throw away the idea of working with one of them and just make a deal with one of us. I don’t know any of our group who is a historian, but most of them know a lot about the past and maybe will even understand the mission better than an outsider.”

           Silence again. And then, the distant sound of Kamilah’s high heels hitting the floor, like she was impatiently trembling her leg. Adrian knew that sign. It meant none of the options were good enough for her. “Or… Third: if you do believe she’s worth it, you can always go over there and demand an answer.”

           Her eyes widened.  

           “Can I do that?”

           “Sure.” He laughed. “As long as you don’t hurt, yell or kill the poor woman.”

           That was it. The solution. She wanted the mission to start already, and if Kamilah wanted anything, no one could stop her from getting it. Much less a professor who hadn’t done the courtesy of giving a simple answer. After a couple minutes, the Egyptian found Anna’s address on the university website and head there without thinking twice. In a blink, she was already ringing the intercom, but it seemed to not be working.

           “Kamilah?” Annie was dangerously leaning on the window. “What are you doing here?”

           “We need to talk. Open the door.”

           The grumpy and ordering tone made Anna frown, but she didn’t argue. From the street, the Egyptian could hear her mumbling things in Portuguese while getting down the stairs. Even though Kamilah couldn’t understand it, she was sure it was cursing. Without saying a word to each other, they climbed the stairs to the third floor. Annie’s place was thoroughly clean and covered with the pleasant scent of vanilla. A mess of books and papers had taken over the living room, where a dining table was set: a dish with a weird sandwich, a glass of cheap wine and an opened notebook. It looked like she was working late.

           “Take a sit. Do you want to drink something? I’ve got wine, rum, whisky, gin, coffee… Water.” The sweet tone on her voice disarmed Kamilah for just a second. The professor seemed extremely tired, but even like this, she wasn’t able to be rude.

           “No, I… I’m fine. Thank you.”

           “What happened?”

           Kamilah’s arms crossed over her breasts. That confused look on Annie’s face was genuine. How could she not know why Kamilah was there? That was the last drop. It unlocked all the irritation that had been burning on the Egyptian’s chest for days. “Did you hit your head recently? Or do you suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer?”

           “Wh…What? I… No…”

           “Why the hell do you think I am here, Ms. Mali? Do you believe I am a woman who has the time to sit around waiting for you to make a simple decision? To answer a yes or no question? Look at me. Do not stare at the floor. Raise your eyes.” Kamilah approached her with such a fast movement, Annie barely saw it happening. In a second, she was standing before her, lifting the professor’s chin to make their eyes meet. “It is not polite to just disappear once a business proposal is showed to you. I do not tolerate this kind of behaviour. If you’re too much of a child yet, then maybe we were wrong to approach you in the first place.”

           Anna didn’t stop her. Didn’t move either. Kamilah saw something growing on the professor’s face, some sort of weakness she wasn’t expecting to find. Her expression was flickering between insecurity and sadness. Finally, an answer came.

           “I can’t stay.” A whisper. The palpable shame in her tone. “I’m leaving.”

            “What do you mean by that?”

           “I mean… I got fired. I’m leaving the country. I’m sorry.” She shrunk her shoulders. Somehow, the woman was getting smaller. More fragile. “It happened on Saturday morning, right after that dinner. I know it’s no excuse and should’ve called you sooner. I’m really sorry. I just thought that now that I’m no longer related to the NYU, my name and reputation wouldn’t be of any value to you. I guess… I was embarrassed to let you know and go through the whole ‘well, then we don’t want you anymore’ conversation. Either way, I am sorry. For not answering, for making you come here, for everything.”

           Kamilah was not at all prepared for this. She went from almost tearing the professor’s throat opened to drowning inside her sorrow and beautiful features. Without much thinking, the Egyptian brushed some hair behind Annie’s ears in a soft movement.

           “Are you leaving the country because of visa issues?”

           “Yes. Not the main reason though… Even if they granted me a permanent visa, I don’t have money to stay. I was a recent teacher at NYU, my payment wasn’t that high and most of it went to cover the costs of the postdoctoral course. Now I’m trying to finish some papers quickly and I still need to buy the plane tickets.”

           “I don’t care about NYU.”

           Annie’s eyes came back to Kamilah only to find an unreadable face. “What?”

           “It’s not relevant if you’re related or not to a University. That doesn’t change my stand.”

           “But…”

           “We still want you.”

           The professor was speechless, staring in disbelief.

           “Answer me, Annie. Will you accept the proposal?”

           Kamilah’s arms uncrossed and her hands went to rest on the hips. She saw a thousand of emotions running through the professor’s eyes in a second.

          “What about my visa?”

         “Not a problem I can’t solve. As for the money part… Adrian will discuss this with you. He’s responsible for the bureaucracies. But I can guarantee, regardless of how the conversation goes, it’s going to be way more than what NYU was paying. So, there won’t remain any obstacles forcing you to leave.”

         Anna smiled. Not because of the money. She just noticed that Kamilah had come in person not to fight, but to persuade her to say yes. That made her wonder what the Egyptian’s thoughts were right now. “I did answer, you know. When I got home, after dinner.”

        “Oh?”

       She pointed at the computer on the desk. “It’s in the draft emails part. I was going to send it on Monday morning.”

       Kamilah arched one eyebrow. “And what was the answer?”

       Instead of giving her the pleasure to hear it, Annie decided to contour the table and send the draft email that was waiting there all along. Inside Kamilah’s pocket, her cell phone immediately buzzed. She gave it a quick glance before smiling and walking towards the door.

        “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Ms. Mali. Don’t be late.”

[tlaquetzqui]

So apparently Mongols who lost or never had horses traditionally lived in the forestlands around the steppe, and practiced subsistence agriculture. As soon as they could get their hands on enough horses they returned to the steppe.

Which reminds me of how the Pygmies in Africa are basically forced into the forestlands by the pastoralist cultures, except Pygmies are hunter-gatherers not subsistence farmers, and don’t really have the option of somehow getting some cattle of their own and becoming pastoralists.

(You don’t hear a lot about farmers in Subsaharan Africa, actually. Could be most of the land isn’t good enough for it; certainly the large centers like Timbuktu, in Mali, were only about a third as big as comparable Iron Age cities in Europe, like Kievan Rus, which is almost certainly a matter of “Ukraine was the breadbasket of the Soviet Union for a reason” rather than any human factor.)

[ayittey1]

African Participation in the Slave Trade -- The Myths

History can be written from three perspectives: from that of the victor, a neutral observer and that of the vanquished. Much of Africa’s history was written by the colonialists (the victors) and obviously the victims of colonialism see things differently. For example, seeing no boxes with “ballots” written on them or a building with “Parliament” written on it, many European colonialists jumped to the conclusion that Africans were laboring under horrible and despot chiefs. Therefore, colonialism was good for the Africans because it liberated them from their terrible rulers. This was one monumental nonsense.

True, there were no boxes with ballots written on them and no building with Parliament written on it but that did not mean the essence of democratic governance was unknown. That mythology was as nonsensical as the claim that since there were no hamburgers in the village, Africans did not eat.

 That mythology originated from their failure to make a distinction between the existence of an institution and different forms of the same institution. There are different types of food. The absence of one type – hamburgers – does not mean a complete absence of other types of food. Similarly, there are different types of democracy. Democratic decisions can be taken by majority vote or by consensus. In traditional Africa, decision-making is by consensus. The absence of voting did not mean Africans were living under terrible despotic Chiefs.

 There are many other myths about Africa – in particular, African participation in the slave trade. Written from the African perspective, we seek to demolish the following myths.

 MYTH No. 1: Africans were selling themselves off into slavery before the Europeans arrived on the continent. African chiefs were selling off their own kind into slavery.

 It is true there was slavery in Africa but not the inhumane chattel variety. Slaves in Africa enjoyed certain rights and privileges. Generally, there were no slave markets in black Africa because of the value black Africans place on humanity. More importantly, Africans generally did not have demands for large amounts of labor. Even if they did, they could turn to their clans or extended families.The slave markets that were in Africa, according to historians, were in North Africa (or Arab North Africa) - in such places as Fez and Tripoli.

 Slaves generally were principally war captives from inter-tribal warfare. Say there was a war between two neighboring tribes – the Ashanti and the Fante – and 5,000 Fantes were taken prisoner. The Ashanti King had the following options:

 1.     Keep the 5,000 Fantes in prison, which meant he would have to feed, clothe and shelter them - an expensive economic proposition;

2.     Execute them, a very inhumane prospect; or

3.     Sell them off as slaves and use the proceeds to purchase weapons to defend his Ashanti people;

4.     Absorb and integrate the war captives into Ashanti society, a long, arduous and dangerous process since safeguards must be put in place to ensure that former combatants would pledge allegiance to a new society and authority.

 Which option do you think the Ashanti King would take? If you said the third option, you are right because it was the most humane and economically expedient. The Ashanti also chose option 4, absorbed former war captives (slaves) into their society. To make their integration into Ashanti society as smooth as possible, even the Ashanti King was forbidden to disclose the slave origins of any of his subjects. He would be DETHRONED or removed from office if he did so.

 Now, the more important issue is this. YES, the Ashanti King did sell Fante prisoners of war as SLAVES and therefore participated in the slave trade. BUT the Ashanti King did NOT sell his own kind/people - an important distinction. It was the Europeans who failed to make this distinction, which has been the source of much mythology about the slave trade.

 The Europeans made no distinction between the Ashanti King and the Fante slaves. To the Europeans, it was a BLACK African King selling BLACK Africans. Therefore, Black kings and chiefs were selling their own kind or people. Nonsense. To the Ashanti King, the Fantes were NOT his people but rather the Ashanti.

 Recall that about that time in history, medieval Europe was also fighting tribal wars - between the Flemish, French and the Germans. They were also enslaving one another. But you don’t hear the expression, “The Europeans were enslaving their own kind?” do you? Rather, you read of Germans taking French slaves and vice versa.  So make the same distinctions in Africa - The Ashanti King taking Fante slaves, etc.

The real purpose of that mythology was to whitewash European participation in the slave trade. After all, African chiefs and kings were enslaving their own kind, so it wasn’t that bad for Europeans to do so.

 MYTH NO.2. “African chiefs just went to the market and just grabbed their people to sell off as slaves.”

 You often hear this from African Americans but it is not true for four reasons. First, no African chief can do this and expect to remain chief. He would be removed. As chief, his prerogative is the survival of his tribe. Second, he would be committing an ethnic suicide if he were to sell off his own Ashanti people into slavery. Third, it did not make military sense. He would be depopulating and weakening his own tribe to the benefit of a stronger neighboring tribe. Fourth, their clans would rise up to protect the victims. More importantly, there were traditional injunctions against that. To test this, go to Onitsha market, grab and beat up .Hausa market trader. The entire Hausa ethnic group would go to his/her defense. In fact, many tribal wars started precisely this way – from a dispute or conflict between two individuals. Furthermore, the Ashanti King’s or chief’s role is to minimize any external threat to his people. And if this means depopulating or selling off the entire Fante tribe into slavery he would do so and the better off his Ashanti people would be as that would mean less competition for resources. Yes, he would sell Fantes into slavery but not his own Ashanti people – an important distinction.

 MYTH No. 3. “Africans are brothers and sisters and it is treacherous for them to participate in the slave trade.”

 Again, tribal or ethnic distinctions are important in Africa. To think that Africans consider members of another tribe as “brothers and sisters” is totally ridiculous – an exercise in grand delusion. Why would a Hutus in Rwanda slaughter more than 800,000 Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994? Or tell the Igbo that the Hausa are their brothers and sisters in 1967.

 Before the twentieth century, many societies in the world practiced some form of slavery. Prisoners of war, political opponents and religious dissidents were often enslaved in Old England. For example, in 1530, in England, under the reign of Henry VIII, a vagrant picked up for the second time was whipped and had half an ear cut off; taken for a third time, he was “to be executed as a hardened criminal and enemy of the common weal” (Marx, 1915; p.806). Seventy-two thousand vagrants were thus executed during that reign. In the time of Edward VI (1547), “if anyone refused to work, he shall be condemned as a slave to the person who denounced him as an idler” (Marx, 1915; p.806). The owner of such a slave might whip him, chain him, and brand him on the cheek and forehead with a letter “S” (for Slave), if he disappeared for two weeks. If he ran away a third time he was executed. An idler vagabond caught on the highway was branded on the chest with a “V” (for vagrant). The same laws were in effect during the reigns of Elizabeth (1572) and of Louis XVI in France. The supporters of Monmouth’s rebellion in England were sold by the Queen.   Cromwell’s Irish and Scottish prisoners were sold to the West Indies and non Muslims who opposed the Sokoto jihad were sold to North Africa.

 Criminals in Europe and Africa could be executed, transported or sold. Europeans favored execution; Africans favored sale.

“In the eighteenth century there were 300 different offences in Britain for which one could be executed. In Dahomey, there were only two, for the king preferred to sell rather than execute his troublemakers. Those who could not pay their debts were sold for life or until the debt was paid. Among the Yoruba, debt slaves (pawns) were called Iwofa, among the Asante Awowa, and among the Europeans indentured servants. About a quarter of a million white debt slaves entered America before the nineteenth century” (Boahen and Webster, 1970; p.69).

 In pre colonial Africa, social conditions were such that,

 “All the white minorities living in Africa might own Black slaves, but slaves and white masters alike were all subjects of a Black Emperor: they were all under the same African political power. No historian worth his salt can permit the obscuring of this politico social context, so that only the one fact of Black slavery emerges from it” (Diop, 1987; p.92).

 There was, however, an important distinction between the slave/master relationship in Africa and that in Europe between serf/lord, which is often overlooked. In Africa, slavery was more of a social distinction without economic consequence than fact. The African slave, “instead of being deprived of the fruits of his labor, as was the case with the artisan or the serf of the Middle Ages, could, on the contrary, add to it wealth given him by the `lord’” (Diop, 1987: p.2). Slaves of the kings of Mali and the Askias of Gao “enjoyed complete liberty of movement. Thus an ordinary slave of Askia Daud, a native of Kanta, was able to carry out a pilgrimage to Mecca without his master’s knowledge” (Diop, 1987; p.153).

 To avoid the ugly connotations associated with commercial slaving, Vaughan (1986) suggested the use of limbry: “Existing data, albeit tenuous, suggest that about 80 percent of African societies had limbry” (p.174). In contrast to commercial slavery, African “limbries” “were not on the whole mistreated, dehumanized or exploited” (Vaughan, 1986; p.174).

 The privileges accorded them, however, varied from tribe to tribe. In Nigeria, the treatment of slaves was by no means harsh; nor was their lot deplorable. The majority were integrated into the society and the respective families of their owners in order to retain their loyalty, prevent rebellion and get the best out of them (Falola, 1985; p.99). The slaves were free to some extent; they could intermarry among themselves, own property and redeem themselves if they had the means.

 Among the Lobi of Gabon, slaves were considered as “new children.” The Massangou of the Chaillou Hills in Gabon, incorporated slaves (war captives) into the entire community to replace those lost in war. In Dahomey, the children of slaves were free people incorporated into the master’s family with all the rights except the right to inherit political leadership (Simiyu, 1988; p.59). But in Senegal, slaves (djem) were closely associated to power. They were represented in royal courts and many became de facto ministers (Diop, 1987:2).

 More importantly, Boahen and Webster (1970) pointed out that:

 “Slaves had many privileges in African kingdoms. In Asante, Oyo and Bornu, they held important offices in the bureaucracy, serving as the Alafin’s Ilari in the subject towns of Oyo, as controller of the treasury in Asante, and as Waziri and army commanders in Bornu. Al Hajj Umar made a slave emir of Nioro, one of the most important of the emirates of the Tokolor empire, and in the Niger Delta states slaves rose to become heads of Houses, positions next in rank to the king. Jaja, who had once been the lowest kind of slave, became the most respected king in the delta, and was no exception; one of the Alaketus of Ketu, and Rabeh of Bornu, rose from slave to king (p.69).

 Since slaves faced few barriers to occupational mobility or economic advancement, there was hardly any need for a tumultuous social revolution, such as the French Revolution in which the exploited overthrew their lords. Slavery, of course, was never under any circumstances an ideal institution and there were cases of slave revolts. One example was the revolt under Afonja in the Oyo empire. Another was the Koranko revolt in 1838 against the Susu of Sierra Leone. Led by Bilale, the Koranko ex slaves built a fortified town to offer freedom to runaway slaves. In Calabar, the slaves united in an organization called the Blood Men, and forced the freeborn to respect their human rights (Boahen and Webster, 1970; p.70).

 MYTH NO. 4: The Europeans were the ones who introduced chattel slavery into Africa.

 In pre-colonial Africa, the Europeans and Arabs were battling each other to subjugate Africa. By the 17th century, North Africa, inhabited by the Berbers, was already under Islamic conquest. For centuries, the Berbers have fought – and are still today – fighting Arab imperialism in Morocco and Algeria, where Arab names, religion and culture are being forced upon them. The Berbers had their own language, music and culture until the region was effectively Arabized as Islam spread hundreds of years ago. According to the Amazigh (Berber) Cultural Association in America, a Moroccan law, enacted in Nov 1996 and referred to as Dahir No. 1.96.97, “imposes Arabic names on an entire citizenry more than half of which is not Arabic”. The Berbers in Algeria, too, are up in arms. Fed up with years of discrimination and persecution at the hands of the Arab majority, Berbers, who make up 20 percent of Algeria’s 32 million people, seek more autonomy in the eastern region of Kabylie. They were the original inhabitants of North Africa when invading Arabs introduced Islam. Old tensions erupted into violence after a Berber schoolboy died in police custody in April 2001. Street clashes in Kabylia between the police and Berber militants left more than 100 protesters dead. "The Berbers also want the government’s police force, which they accuse of being partisan, to withdraw from Kabylie, and they want their language, Tamazight, to be recognized as an official language” (The New York Times, June 30, 2003; p.A4).

 West Africa was saved from Islamic conquest by the Sahara, which served as an effective bulwark against Islamic expansionism. In East Africa, Islam made inroads in the 17th century – peacefully at first but with diabolical intentions at a later state. While the Europeans organized the West African slave trade, the Arabs managed the East African and trans-Saharan counterparts.  For the trans-Saharan slave trade, an estimated 9 million captives were shipped to slave markets in Fez, Marrakesh (Morocco); Constantine (Algeria); Tunis (Tunisia), Fezzan, Tripoli (Libya); and Cairo (Egypt). No black African will ever forget that in the 19th century, over 2 million black slaves were shipped from East Africa to Arabia, a slave trade operated by Arabs.

The Zanzibar slave trade, with an annual sale that increased according to some estimates from 10,000 slaves in the early 19th century to between 40,000 and 45,000 in the mid‑19th century, was at its height during the rule of Sayyid Said (1804‑1856 ‑ born 1794), sultan of Muscat and Oman…  

Enslaving and slave trading in East Africa were peculiarly savage in a traffic notable for its barbarity. Villages were burnt, the unfit villagers massacred. The enslaved were yoked together, several hundreds in a caravan, and on their journey to the coast, which could be as long as 1280 kilometres…It is estimated that only one in five of those captured in the interior reached Zanzibar. The slave trade seems to have been more catastrophic in East Africa than in West Africa (Wickins, 1981; p.184).

 Diseases such as smallpox and cholera, introduced by marauding Arab caravans penetrating the interior in search of slaves, decimated entire local populations and were far more devastating than the actual export of slaves to Indian Ocean markets.  According to Gordon (1989),

“One particularly brutal practice was the mutilation of young African boys, sometimes no more than 9 or ten years old, to create eunuchs, who brought a higher price in the slave markets of the Middle East. Slave traders often created “eunuch stations” along the major African slave routes where the necessary surgery was performed in unsanitary conditions. Only one out of every 10 boys subjected to the mutilation actually survived the surgery.

The taking of slaves – in razzias, or raids, on peaceful African villages – also had a high casualty rate. The typical practice was to conduct a pre-dawn raid on an unsuspecting village and kill off as many of the men and older women as possible. Young women and children were then abducted as the preferred “booty” for the raiders. 

Young women were targeted because of their value as concubines or sex slaves in markets. “The most common and enduring purpose for acquiring slaves in the Arab world was to exploit them for sexual purposes. These women were nothing less than sexual objects who, with some limitations, were expected to make themselves available to their owners…Islamic law catered to the sexual interests of a man by allowing him to take as many as four wives at one time and to have as many concubines as his purse allowed. Young women and girls were often inspected before purchase in private areas of the slave market by the prospective buyer (p.35).

 Some of the African slaves were shipped to Iraq, where they were inhumanely treated. In the latter part of the 19th century, they revolted and were subsequently placed in the Iraqi army. According to Walusako Mwalilino, a Malawian historian, “From 1859 to 1872, between 20,000 and 25,000 slaves were shipped to southwest Asian ports” (The Washington Times, Sept 21, 1995; p.A14). But the Arab slave trade continued well into the 20th century. According to Thomas Cantwell, an American reporter, “the last interdicted slave ship was in 1947, a dhow from Mombasa” (The Washington Post, June 4, 1994; p.A18).  American reporter, Timothy Williams, claimed that,

 “Officially, Iraq is a colorblind society that in the tradition of Prophet Muhammad treats black people with equality and respect. But on the packed dirt streets of Zubayr, Iraq’s scaled-down version of Harlem, African-Iraqis talk of discrimination so steeped in Iraqi culture that they are commonly referred to as “abd” — slave in Arabic — prohibited from interracial marriage and denied even menial jobs.

Historians say that most African-Iraqis arrived as slaves from East Africa as part of the Arab slave trade starting about 1,400 years ago. They worked in southern Iraq’s salt marshes and sugar cane fields.

Though slavery — which in Iraq included Arabs as well as Africans — was banned in the 1920s, it continued until the 1950s, African-Iraqis say.

 Recently, they have begun to campaign for recognition as a minority population, which would grant them the same benefits as Christians, including reserved seats in Parliament.

“Black people here are living in fear,” said Jalal Dhiyab Thijeel, an advocate for the country’s estimated 1.2 million African-Iraqis. “We want to end that” (The New York Times, Dec 2, 2009; p.A22).

 The official Libyan and Arab line on slavery is that: “The Arab countries are a natural extension to the African continent. The African Arabs, or those who carried the indulgent message of Islam, were the first to effectively oppose slavery as inhumane and unnatural. The claim that Arabs were involved in the trade at all is a mischievous invention of the West, made in order to divide the Arabs from their brothers and sisters who live in the African continent” (New Africa, Nov 1984; p.12). Nonsense.

 During the black struggle for civil rights in the United States and independence in Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, Afro-Arab differences and ill-feelings were buried. Black leaders, seduced by the fallacious premise that “the enemy of my enemy must be my friend”, made common cause with the Arabs. In the United States, many blacks dropped their "European” or “slave” names and adopted Islamic ones. In Africa, black leaders entered into alliances and sought support from Arab states for the liberation struggle against Western colonialism. Grand Afro-Arab solidarity accords were pompously announced. Drooling, grandiloquent speeches announced meretricious Afro-Arab summits. Little came out of them, and since independence, black Africans have gradually realized that the Arabs regard them “expendable”. The Arabs are just as ready as the French to use them as pawns to achieve their chimerical geopolitical schemes and global religious imperialism/domination.

Today Africa has found new suitors – Chinese.

 REFERENCES

Ayittey, George B.N. (2006). Indigenous African Institutions. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishers.

 Boahen, A.A. and J.B. Webster. History of West Africa. New York: Praeger, 1970.

Diop Cheikh Anta. Pre‑colonial Black Africa. Westport: Lawrence Hill & Company, 1987.

Falola, Toyin. "Nigeria’s Indigenous Economy.” in Nigerian History and Culture. ed. Olaniyan, 1985.

 Gordon, Murray (1989).  Slavery in the Arab World. New York, NY: New Amsterdam Books.

Martin, Phyllis M and Partrick O'Meara eds. Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.

 Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Chicago: Kerr, 1915.

 Simiyu, V.G. “The Democratic Myth in The African Traditional Societies,” in Democratic Theory and Practice in Africa. eds. Walter O. Oyugi et. al. Portsmouth, NH: 1988.

 Vaughan, James H. “Population and Social Organization,” in Martin and O'Meara, 1986.

 Wickins, Peter (1981). An Economic History of Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  George B.N. Ayittey, PhD

Retired Distinguished Economist at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation, both in Washington DC, USA.

Free Africa Foundation website www.freeafrica.org